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Columbia  Stotoenrttp 

mUjrCttptfltogork 

THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


WESTERN  PIONEER 

OR, 

INCIDENTS  OF  THE  LIFE  AND  TIMES 

OF 

REY.  ALFRED  BRMSON,  A.  M,  D.  D. 

EMBRACING  A  PERIOD  OF  OVER  SEVENTY  YEARS. 

WRITTEN  BY  HIMSELF. 


"Now  the  things  which  I  write  unto  you,  behold,  before  God,  I  He  not."  Ga- 
latians  i,  20. 

"Come  and  hear,  all  ye  that  fear  God,  and  I  wiU  declare  what  he  hath  done  for 
my  SOul."     PSALiM   lxvi,    16. 


VOLUME   I. 

c- w-  c  UBgjist  uy.t. 

CI  NC  INN  A  TI: 
HITCHCOCK    AND    WALDEN. 

KEW  YORK: 
CARLTON  AND  LANAHAN. 

1872. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1872, 

BY  HITCHCOCK  &  WALDEN, 

In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


/*?* 


PREFACE. 


I 


N  writing  the  following  narrative  I  have  aimed  at  the 
simple  statement  of  facts,  without  comment,  color- 
ing, or  the  flourish  of  style.  I  have  studied  brevity, 
notwithstanding  its  length.  Had  every  incident  of  my 
life,  or  incidents  interlocked  with  it,  been  recorded,  the 
work  would  have  been  greatly  extended,  but  without 
equivalent  profit.  No  two  incidents  precisely  alike  are 
recorded,  though  several  contribute  to  illustrate  the 
same  fact  or  truth.  The  most  of  what  is  stated  are 
but  specimens  of  numerous  other  similar  occurrences, 
but  are  sufficient  to  illustrate  the  point  in  hand.  Some 
few  are  alone,  of  course.  In  speaking  of  my  trials, 
the  greatest  similarity  appears,  yet  no  two  cases  are 
precisely  alike,  though  bearing  upon  the  same  general 
subject. 

I  have  written  in  the  first  person  singular,  because  I 
wrote  of  myself.  This  may  not  suit  the  tastes  of  the 
would-be  modest,  or  the  verbose  and  circumlocutive  ; 
but  it  saves  space,  and  the  reader  will  probably  under- 
stand my  meaning  as  well  as,  or  better,  than  if  other- 
wise written. 

The  detail  of  my  sore  and  unequal ed  trials,  or  the 
repeated  allusions  to  them,  under  the  different  phases 

3 


4  PREFACE. 

in  which  they  appear,  may  not  suit  the  present  taste 
of  readers  as  well  as  glowing  accounts  of  prosperity, 
and  unequaled  triumphs ;  but  I  write  for  the  truth  of 
history,  and  to  do  good  to  others  who  may  be  similarly 
situated;  who  may  be  encouraged  to  bear  up  under  their 
trials,  and  trust  in  God,  who,  being  no  respecter  of  per- 
sons, will  be  as  gracious  and  merciful  to  them  as  to  me. 

I  never  knew,  or  read,  of  any  one  who  was  called 
to  pass  through  such  ordeals  as  I  have;  nor  does  his- 
tory present  us  with  but  one  Job ;  yet  we  may  have 
afflictions  and  trials  which  involve  similar  principles, 
and  require  a  similar  exercise  of  patience  and  faith  as 
that  of  the  man  of  Uz;  and  so  it  may  possibly  be  with 
some  readers  of  this  narrative,  who  may  derive  some 
comfort  from  a  less  prominent  subject. 

"We  are  apt  to  think  our  trials  peculiar  to  ourselves, 
and  be  tempted  to  despondency,  if  not  despair,  on  ac- 
count of  them.  But  when  Ave  see  in  others  trials  sim- 
ilar, or  even  greater  than  our  own,  we  feel  a  measure 
of  relief;  and  if  the  more  afflicted  has  found  grace  to 
sustain  him,  we  are  encouraged  to  trust  in  the  same  God. 
So  it  may  be  with  some  who  read  this  narrative. 

If  some  of  the  incidents  herein  recorded  conflict  with 
some  modern  notions  of  law,  discipline,  or  science,  it  is 
because  the  facts  are  against  them ;  and  any  theory  that 
can  not  stand  the  test  of  facts  is  based  in  error,  and 
should  be  abandoned. 

Some  things  which  I  have  recorded,  may,  to  some, 
have  an  egotistic  appearance ;  but  it  should  be  borne  in 
mind  that,  like  the  sacred  historians,  I  have  recorded  my 
errors,  as  well  as  my  successes.  This  I  deem  proper,  to 
guard  others  against  falling  into  the  same  errors. 


PREFACE.  O 

In  estimnting  from  the  known  number  of  appoint- 
ments in  each  circuit,  station,  and  district  to  which  I 
have  been  appointed,  I  find  I  have  preached  nearly,  or 
quite,  ten  thousand  times — I  can  not  say  sermons,  for 
many  of  them  were  often  repeated,  and  improved  by  the 
repetition — and  have  been  instrumental,  under  God,  of 
saving  at  least  six  thousand  souls  ;  and  though,  mostly, 
my  work  has  been  on  new  and  poor  ground,  I  have 
aided,  directly  or  indirectly,  in  building  about  forty 
churches;  and  I  can  but  hope,  after  over  sixty  years  of 
official  connection  with  the  Church,  and  nearly  that 
number  of  years  in  the  itinerancy,  if  not  as  eminent 
and  useful  as  some,  yet  with  passable  acceptance,  and 
some  usefulness,  that  the  candid  reader  will  conclude 
that  the  oppositions,  rebuffs,  and  extreme  trials  I  met 
with  in  the  ministry,  arose  from-  erroneous  apprehen- 
sions of  mistaken,  though  well-meaning,  brethren,  who 
"judged  from  appearances,"  and  not  wjth  "  righteous 
judgments."  But  I  have  had  "the  answer  of  a  good 
conscience  before  God  and  man,"  and  trust  that,  in  tho 
final  judgment,  God  will  make  all  things  right. 

The  lessons  I  have  learned  from  sad  experience 
have  been  of  advantage  to  me,  and  led  to  compassion 
for  others  in  like  circumstances ;  choosing  to  err  on  the 
side  of  mercy,  rather  than  strict  justice,  if  I  must  err, 
and  having  showed  mercy  to  others,  so  I  hope  to  obtain 
mercy  from  the  God  I  love. 

To  say  that  I  was  solicited  by  many  laymen  and 
ministers  to  write  this  narrative,  and  was  encouraged  to 
do  so  by  two  bishops  and  a  prominent  editor,  may  be 
only  commonplace,  for,  with  some  at  least,  it  might 
have  been  mere  compliment;  but  I  confess  that  it  had 


6  PREFACE. 

its  influence  in  inducing  me  to  do  so,  added  to  a  con- 
viction that  duty  to  God,  the  Church,  and  the  world, 
required  it  of  me;  and  such  as  it  is,  I  leave  it  in  the 
hands  of  God  and  the  Church,  hoping  that  it  will  do 
good. 


CONTENTS 


PREFACE. 


Reasons  for  writing— Style  of  it — In  the  first  person,  and  why — 
May  not  suit  the  taste  of  some — May  encourage  some  similarly 
situated— Trials  peculiar — May  afford  relief  to  others — And  trust  in 
God — If  conflicting  with  the  opinions  of  others,  it  is  because  the 
facts  are  against  them — Not  egotistic— My  own  errors  recorded — 
Preached  eight  thousand  times— Sermons  often  repeated,  and  im- 
proved Have  saved,  under  God,  five  thousand — Thirty  Churches — 
Near  fifty  years  in  the  Itinerancy,  with  passable  acceptance— Some 
usefulness— Trials  from  mistaken  views — Have  had  the  answer  of 
a  good  conscience — Lessons  learned  have  been  of  use,  and  led  to 
have  compassion  on  others Page  3 

CHAPTER  I. 

Time  and  place  of  birth — In  a  snow-storm — No  influence  on  my 
after  life — Ancestors — Puritans — In  1630  two  brothers  settled  in  Con- 
necticut— Original  name  Brownson — Descended  from  the  Hartford 
family — Grandfather  Charles  probably  born  1720— Grandmother  Abi- 
gail Beach,  then  Cook,  then  Brownson— Cook  killed  in  French  War — 
Left  two  sons — My  mother's  name — Danbury  burned  in  the  Revolu- 
tion— Glassites  or  Sandemanians — My  grandfather  joined  them,  and 
suffered  on  account  of  it — Was  whipped  as  a  Tory— Sold  his  prop- 
erty— My  father's  heirship — Sing  Sing — Became  a  boatman — Its  ben- 
fits — Incidents  of  the  Revolution — State-Prison— Silver  mine — The 
Pine  Grove — Guard  ship — Cow-boys — A  trick  on  them — The  pirate's 
deposits — Digging  for  it  — Tellows  Point  and  the  guardship...PAGE  13 

CHAPTER  II. 

First  knowledge  of  Methodists — First  camp-meeting — The  sec- 
ond one  at  Croton — Governor  Courtland— The  Devil's  Camp — The 
Academy— Military  disposition — Became  an  orphan — Cause  of  my 
father's  death — Drowned — Made  his  own  tomb-stone — Returned  to 
Danbury — Morals — My  baptism — Fell  into  sin — Calvinism — Its  ef- 
fects—Politics— High  state  of  feeling — Aaron  Burr — Roger  Sherman  — 

7 


8  CONTENTS. 

Franklin— Project  of  life — Attendance  on  Methodist  preaching — 
Dancing — First  thought  of  being  a  Methodist — Would  not  play 
cards — Infidels  favored  Methodism  on  political  grounds — Left  my 
.uncle,  and  for  what — New  Brunswick,  New  Jersey — Trenton— Car- 
lisle, Pennsylvania— Awakened Page  27 

CHAPTER  III. 

Instructed  how  to  seek  religion — How  and  when  converted — 
Warfare  begins — A  singular  dream — Severe  trials — Call  to  preach — 
Pemarkable  experience — Trials  portended  by  the  dream — The  vic- 
tory— Preparing  for  the  ministry — Joined  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church— The  Sacrament — Sanctification — Wesley's  Christian  perfec- 
tion— An  instance  of  falling  under  the  power  of  God — Beading  by 
moonlight — A  camp-meeting — More  of  the  power — Started  for 
Home — Another  camp-meeting — A  remarkable  vision Page  47 

CHAPTER  IV. 

•Journey  home — A  heavy  gale— Confidence  in  God— Bridgeport — 
Got  work— Bought  my  time — Found  Methodists— The  first  class 
formed  in  New  England — Mutton  lane — Visit  to  Danbury — Obtained 
sanctification — Its  evidence  and  quality — Not  exempt  from  tempta- 
tions—The advantage  taken  of  me,  and  final  victory — First  exhorta- 
tion— Was  licensed — Jesse  Lee — First  class,  three  sisters — Prophecy 
of  Lee  fulfilled  —  Human  prints  in  a  rock  —  Commenced  holding 
meetings — Travels  on  foot — A  conversion,  followed  by  another, 
and  a  marriage — Another  camp-meeting — My  sister  awakened  at 
it — My  mother's  trouble  about  it — Sister's  conversion  —  Beading 
circuit — Canaan  quarterly-meeting — The  rowdy — The  rights  of  an 
exhorter Page  68 

CHAPTER  V. 

Jeremiah — Backsliders  who  disobeyed  God — Willingness  to  do 
duty— The  Penfield  family— The  Long  Island  Methodist— The  case 
of  Hill— The  rebuff— Got  married — War  declared— Business  Cur- 
tailed—Moved to  Ohio — Caution  of  a  good  sister — Joined  the  Church 
in  Ohio— A  large  circuit — The  two  brothers — One  a  hypochondriac— 
His  ludicrous  experience Page  89 

CHAPTER  VI. 

On  the  frontier — Exposed  to  savage  war— Enlisted  in  the  army — 
Conviction  of  error— March— Lake  Erie— British  navy— Suspicious 
vessel— Plan  for  fight— An  adventure— A  little  fright-  Sandusky 
Bay— A  soldier's  breakfast— A  night's  travel  in  fear—  Seneca— Saw 
General  Harrison— Nightly  alarms— Some  ludicrous— Promise  of  pro- 
motion—The   quartermaster    sergeant    Secret  prayer— The    enemy 


CONTENTS.  9 

strong — The  retreat  ordered — The  insolent  letter — The  arrest — The 
excuse — The  battle  and  victory — The  spy — The  case  of  the  Indiana  in 
this  fight — The  fleet — Ben.  Hall— Perry's  victory — The  march — Want 
of  water — Perry  and  Harrison  meet — The  prisoners — The  case  of 
Hull — His  sale  of  the  army — The  Tories  of  Connecticut — Henry's 
conspiracy-  J.  Q.  Adams — Attempt  to  divide  the  Union Page  106 

CHAPTER  VII. 

Governor  Shelby's  volunteers — Crossing  the  lake — The  fleet — 
Put-in  Bay—  The  crew — A  deserter  shot — An  affecting  scene— Adam — 
The  Middle  Sister  Island — The  leeks— Landing  in  Canada — Maiden 
burned — The  Thames — The  bees — Burning  their  vessels — The  rene- 
gade from  the  States  —  The  battle  and  victory — Tecumseh  —  His 
death — Colonel  Whitley — Return  to  Detroit — The  storm,  and  brandy — 
Prepared  for  Winter — Sickness  in  camp,  and  myself — The  alarm- 
Strategy— The  lie Page  129 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  sham  fight — A  ludicrous  affair — Offer  of  promotion,  declined  — 
Discharged,  and  went  home—  The  captain  had  been  a  British  sea- 
man—  A  gale  on  the  lake  —  Ofl'er  of  good  wages  to  sail  the  lake  — 
Refused — Got  home — Sought  the  house  of  God  —  Met  with  trouble 
because  I  had  been  to  the  war — The  deacon— License  to  exhort  re- 
newed— Regained  evidence  of  sanctification  —Licensed  to  preach — 
My  opponent  converted,  and  became  a  friend — Trip  to  Connecticut — 
Preached  in  Carlisle — Milford,  Penn. — Brother  Doolittle's  case — An- 
other anecdote — Visited  the  tomb  of  my  father — Danbury  —  Great 
changes  —  Bridgeport — Returned  home — The  case  of  the  Quakers — 
Offered  again  for  the  itinerancy,  and  was  rejected — Thought  again  of 
the  law,  but  conviction  of  duty  prevented  -Thought  of  my  trade,  but 
the  same  prevention — The  people  urged  me  to  itinerate — Rejected 
the  third  time  — A  successful  sermon,  that  eventually  procured  me  a 
circuit Page  149 


CHAPTER  IX. 

The  Western  Reserve  — Some  of  its  history  —  Presbyterians  and 
Congregationalists  —  Methodism  weak  —  Assumed  Union  —  Circuits 
supplied  from  a  distance — Young  and  single  men — Prejudice  against 
Yankees— Deacon  Crosby— Remarkable  case  of  falling  into  the  fire 
without  injury— Hypochondria — Cause  of  it — A  cure  for  it — D.  D. 
Davisson  —  A  circuit  given  me  —  Reached  it  —  New  Haven — The 
reception  —  Revival  —  M.  Kellogg — R.  N.  Powers  —  No  one  con- 
verted, just  as  he  anticipates — Perkins — John  Beatie-W.  Gurley— 
Revival Page  171 


10  CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  X. 

The  Irish  Rebellion,  1798— Julius  House — Cold  Spring— Singular 
mound— Discovery  of  plaster  Paris — Prairies — Their  cause — Descrip- 
tion of  them  —  Last  quarterly-meeting  on  this  circuit  —  Offended 
brother  Davisson — Camp-meeting  at  Akron — Met  cold  reception — 
Deerfield  camp-meeting — Recommended  to  Conference — Rejected  by 
the  Conference — An  unfortunate  book  trade — Down  the  river,  and 
home — Ruter  and  Stewart— Revival — Camp-meeting,  and  victory — 
Anecdote — Conversion  of  a  family Page  191 


CHAPTER  XL 

Recommended  for  deacon's  orders — Visit  to  Warren,  0. — Preached 
first  Methodist  sermon  there  —  Conference,  Cincinnati  —  Ordained 
deacon — The  embargo  removed,  and  employed  under  the  presiding 
elder  of  Erie  circuit — The  rescued  doctor-  Returned  home— To  the 
circuit — Bishop  Roberts — Meadville — Commenced  preaching  there — 
Also  Mercer— Large  increase — Seldom  at  home — Reading— Contro- 
versy— Camp- meetings— Much  good  done — North-East — Hatton — His 
hypochondria — A  remarkable  meeting — Two  hundred  conversions — 
First  petition  for  organizing  Pittsburg  Conference — Camp-meeting 
near  Zanesville — Success  in  preaching — Effect  on  Conference — Ad- 
mitted on  trial  in  the  itinerancy Page  210 

CHAPTER  XII. 

Home  from  Conference  —  Zanesville  —  T.  A.  Morris  —  A  small 
fright — Exchanged  from  Cuyahoga  to  Mahoning  circuit — Had  revi- 
vals— One  hundred  and  fifty  increase — Amos  Smith— Remarkable 
death — Dr.  Bostwick — His  character,  and  anecdotes—  John  Solomon — 
The  crowing  hen,  and  the  bellow  of  a  bull  awakening  sinners — A 
camp-meeting — Geneva — Good  time  —  Two  hundred  conversions — 
Parker — Another  camp-meeting — Vernon  -  Two  hundred  rowdies — 
Checked  and  defeated— Further  trouble  for  me Page  230 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Success  of  Methodism — Grand  River  circuit — Hard  circuit— Good 
work — Three  hundred  increase — Sick — Expected  to  die — Ashtabula — 
The  man  in  despair — Saved — A  returned  husband— Camp-meeting 
in  Concord— One  hundred  conversions  —  The  old  cry  refuted  —  The 
crops  favored  for  camp-meeting — Conference  at  Marietta — Ordained 
elder  —  Appointed  to  Detroit— Ohio  River — Plowing  it  —  The  migra- 
tion of  squirrels — Moved  my  family  to  Detroit  by  water — The  gale — 
My  sailorship  —  Reached  Detroit — Cold  reception  — My  wife  rallied 
me — Why  I  was  sent  to  Detroit — The  Indians  -The circuit — Subscrip- 


CONTENTS.  11 

tions —  Colleague  not  well  received  —  Divided  our  work  at  his  in- 
stance—The under-ground  railroad — Family  sick — Sick  myself— Driv- 
ing the  devil  out — Sunday  markets — The  infidel  husband Page  254 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Conference  at  Urbana — Mauraee  swamp — Flies  and  mosquitoes — 
Lost  my  money  and  had  to  beg — At  Conference  another  storm — Ap- 
pointed to  Grand  River — Crossed  the  lake  to  Detroit  and  returned — 
A  storm  or  gale  on  the  lake — Painesville  — Necessity  of  uniform 
administration — Commenced  my  commentary  on  Discipline — Read 
law — Camp-meeting  at  Mantua — Rowdies  two  hundred,  defeated — 
A  new  scheme — The  Baptist  minister — Pittsburg  Conference  organ- 
ized, 1824 — Ohio  Conference  at  Zanesville — Met  an  agreeable  recep- 
tion— Appointed  to  Youngstown  circuit— The  dancing-school  broken 
up-  Camp-meeting  at  Wayne— Proselyting  defeated  The  Univer- 
salist  convinced Page  276 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Conference  met  in  Pittsburg — Three  different  Conferences  and 
usages— Baltimore  usage  adopted— The  Conference  year— Stewards — 
Conference  Minutes — Appointed  to  Mercer  circuit — Salem  rowdies 
subdued—Rowdies  at  Greenville  subdued — The  Irish  and  the  fairies — 
Stokely— His  odd  account  The  high  waters— Camp-meeting  near 
Shijipenville — A  Yankee  trick  upon  the  devil — The  shyness  of  the 
Yankees — The  explanation  to  the  elder — The  devil's  funeral  ser- 
mon— Camp-meeting  at  Sharon — One  hundred  conversions — A  sin- 
gular case  of  conversion  and  opposition Page  299 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Conference  at  Washington— Appointed  to  Newcastle  circuit — 
Fording  Shenango,  dangers -Zellenople — Corrected  by  a  woman — 
Conference  at  Steubenville — Difficulties  from  Radicalism--Appointed 
to  Beaver  station — Revival  among  children — A  father  converted — 
Wrote  against  Radicalism— Conference  in  a  camp-meeting — Salem  — 
Bishop  Roberts — The  experiment — The  district — The  opposition — Ap- 
pointed to  Washington,  Pennsylvania — Radicalism — Cool  reception — 
Soon  became  better  — Camp-meeting  at  Castleman's  Run — The  negro 
hung — The  revival — The  love-feast— General  Jackson  at  church — 
Visited  home — Dangerous  fall  with  horse — Silas  Hopewell  and 
Shinn— Conference  at  Wheeling Page  324 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Appointed  to  New  Lisbon  circuit — Followed  George  Brown— 
The  Radicals  defeated— The  Campbellites  confuted— The  thunder- 
storm   sermon— The    dyspepsia,    its    remedy — The    pipe    quit   and 


12  CONTENTS. 

resumed  from  necessity — Conference  at  Uniontown — Madison  Col- 
lege— Youngstown  circuit — Radicalism  again — A  church  saved  from 
it — Revival  killed  the  ism  in  one  place — A  good  camp-meeting — Four 
infidels  converted — Root's  Town Page  349 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Conference  at  Pittsburg — The  Radicals — Bascom  in  hot  water — 
His  explanation — Chosen  delegate  to  General  Conference — Cleveland 
circuit— The  infidels — Penfields— At  Euclid — Hudson,  the  Campbell- 
ites — Frozen — Cured  by  tea — A  mammoth  flood— Risked  my  life — 
Great  falls  at  Franklin — The  Indian  leap — The  Bradys — The  Stowe 
infidel  convinced — To  General  Conference— The  lady  ward — The 
mistake — Baltimore — Silas  Hopewell's  greeting — Parson  Brownlow — 
The  horse  railroad — Philadelphia — Brother  Weed — The  Conference — 
Sensibility  on  slavery— The  debate — Pewed  churches — The  doc- 
torate—  Temperance  cause  —  Two  new  bishops  elected  —  No  slave- 
holder to  be  one — The  change— The  rebellion,  its  end — The  Canada 
question— The  Southern  delegates Page  373 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Bishop  M'Kendree — The  closing  scene — Sea  food — Quick  trip- 
Home — Death  of  my  uncle — A  false  alarm  of  cholera  at  Cleveland — 
Camp-meeting  near  Cleveland — Rowdyism  rampant— The  old  Baptist 
at  the  sacrament — Conference  at  Wellsburg-Camp-meeting — Alex- 
ander Campbell — Owen  on  Campbell's  toes — Young  Moore — Campbell 
in  a  quandary — Challenged  the  Conference  and  flunked  out — Alle- 
ghany station — Dr.  Ruter  corrected  in  a  date — The  cholera-  Day  of 
fasting— Few  deaths — Thanksgiving— The  same  in  1833 — Alleghany 
College — Conference  in  Meadville— Bishop  Roberts — Meadville  dis- 
trict—A troublesome  man — Temperance — Great  success — Trustee  of 
the  College — Manual  labor— Rainy  camp-meeting — A  rowdy  fined — 
A  second  one — The  powder-balls  — Doubts  of  camp-meetings  — 
Churches  and  barns  preferred Page  397 


WESTERN  PIONEER. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ON  the  9th  day  of  February,  1793,  according  to  tho 
family  record,  the  wheels  of  time  rolled  me  into  this 
world,  in  the  town  of  Danbury,  Fairfield  county,  State 
of  Connecticut.  My  mother  informed  me  in  after  years, 
that  this,  to  them  at  least,  interesting  event,  occurred 
in  one  of  the  old-fashioned  New  England  snow-storms, 
the  drifts  of  which  covered  the  stake-and-ridered  fences. 
But  whether  this  storm  had  any  influence  in  causing 
the  storms  of  my  after  life,  I  do  not  know,  nor  have  I 
any  faith  in  such  influences;  but  I  do  know  that  my 
whole  life  has  been  one  of  toil,  hardship,  privation,  and 
up-hill  labor. 

Nor  do  I  know  or  believe  in  the  influence  of 
planets,  signs  of  the  zodiac,  or  the  moon  on  the  future 
of  one  born  on  a  certain  hour,  day,  month,  or  year  of 
the  worlds  revolution  in  its  orbit.  If  it  were  so,  I 
might  have  been  a  great  man,  for  one  great  man,  at 
least,  Gen.  Win.  II.  Harrison,  was  born  on  the  same  day 
of  the  month,  just  twenty  years  before  me.  My  father 
being  a  Freemason,  and  that  order  regarding  King 
Alfred  a  patron  of  it,  gave  me  that  name. 

As  to  my  ancestors  of  the  Brunsonic  tribe,  I  know 
but   little.     Nor    is    it    of  any    importance,   since    my 

13 


14  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

genealogy  has  no  connection  whatever  with  any  pre- 
dicted future  event  of  the  world's  history,  bearing  upon 
the  welfare  of  the  human  race.  Nor  do  I  wish  to 
establish  a  descent  from  royal,  noble,  or  aristocratical 
families  of  the  Old  World.  I  am  quite  content  to  know 
that  I  descended  from  those  who  shared  in  the  common 
respectability  of  the  Puritans  who  first  settled  in  the 
New  England  colonies. 

I  can  trace  my  forefathers  back  to  the  year  1G30, 
when  two  brothers,  who  bore  the  family  name  of 
Brownson.  emigrated  from  England  and  settled,  one  in 
the  Hartford,  and  the  other  in  the  New  Haven  colony, 
Connecticut.  Some  of  their  descendants  retain  the 
original  spelling  of  the  name,  while  others  spell  it 
Bronson,  or  Brunson.  My  father  continued  the  origi- 
nal orthography;  but  at  his  death  the  administrators, 
in  their  advertisement,  spelled  it  Brunson,  following 
that  of  some  others,  who  had  descended  from  the  New 
Haven  family;  and,  concluding  that  names  ought  to  be 
spelled  as  they  were  pronounced,  I  adopted  the  w, 
instead  of  ow,  and  thereafter  wrote  it  Brunson. 

I  must  have  descended  from  the  Hartford  family, 
my  father,  Ira  Brownson,  having  been  born  in  Berlin, 
Hartford  county,  in  1771,  and  being  the  youngest  of 
fourteen  children,  and  by  a  third  wife  of  my  grand- 
father; the  latter  was  probably  born  in  the  same  town 
about  the  year  1720.  This  would  leave  ninety  years  be 
tween  the  settlement  of  the  first  of  the  family  and  the 
birth  of  my  grandfather,  whose  name  was  Charles;  but 
whether  two  or  three  generations  intervened,  I  am 
unable  to  state. 

My  grandmother  Brunson  was  original^  Abigail 
Beach.  She  married  a  Cook,  who  was  killed  in  the  old 
French  war.  She  had  by  him  two  sons,  Samuel  and 
"William  Cook.  The  Eev.  J.  B.  Wakeley,  of  the  New 
York  Conference,  is  a  grandson  of  Samuel  Cook. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSOtf.  15 

My  mother's  maiden  name  was  Permelia  Cozier, 
daughter  of  Benjamin  and  Sarah  Cozier,  of  Danbury, 
where  she  was  born  in  April,  1772. 

The  town  of  Danbury  was  one  of  the  early  settle- 
ments of  Connecticut.  From  the  traditions  of  the  old 
men,  in  my  boyhood,  I  learned  that  the  Indians,  who 
were  then  numerous  in  the  country,  occupied  the  plain 
and  higher  grounds  east  of  the  town,  and  would  not 
allow  the  whites  to  settle  there.  This  drove  them  upon 
lower  grounds,  called  the  Swamp,  and  required  the 
street  to  be  raised  in  some  places  four  feet  high,  to  have 
dry  roads.  The  main  street  in  my  boyhood  was  ono 
and  a  half  miles  long,  and  not  exactly  straight,  having 
but  two  cross  streets,  with  but  few  buildings  on  them. 

This  town  obtained  some  degree  of  notoriety  from 
being  burned  by  the  British  in  the  Revolutionary  war, 
and  subsequently,  and  in  my  day,  for  the  great  number 
of  hatters  who  lived  and  wrought  in  it. 

There  was  in  Danbury  a  sect  of  professed  Christians, 
the  followers  of  llobert  Sandeman,  a  follower  of  John 
Glass,  of  Scotland,  and  were  called  Glassites,  or  San- 
dcmanians.  They  were  of  the  most  rigid  Calvinistic 
creed.  They  believed  and  taught  that  they  were  the 
only  elect  of  God,  coolly  consigning  all  others  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  devil,  as  reprobates  from  all 
eternity. 

One  thing  peculiar  to  them  was  their  mode  of  obey- 
ing the  Scriptures.  They  would  select  one  passage  as 
their  guide,  and  follow  it  literally  till  it  was  stale  with 
them,  and  then  select  another  and  use  it  in  the  same 
way;  and  then  another,  and  so  on. 

One  feature  of  their  economy  was  to  all  sit  around 
one  table  in  the  center  of  the  room,  while  their  children 
and  the  spectators,  or  outsiders,  sat  on  the  side-seats  of 
the  house,  all  facing  toward  the  center-table.  The  first 
member  who  came  in  took  his  or  her  seat:  the  next  one 


16  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

on  coming  in  would  kiss  the  first,  and  be  seated  ;  the 
third,  fourth,  and  so  on,  to  the  hundredth— for  they  had 
about  that  number — on  coming  in,  would  kiss  every 
one  at  the  table  before  being  seated.  This  gave  them 
the  cognomen  of  kissers.  This  practice  they  observed 
in  their  social  intercourse  whenever  and  wherever  they 
met,  whether  casually,  or  by  appointment,  at  one  of 
their  houses  for  a  social  visit;  and,  being  rather  clan- 
nish, their  sociability  was  principally  confined  to  their 
own  membership',  and  it  was  thought  that  some  of  them 
were  more  fond  of  these  socialities  than  was  prudent  or 
virtuous,  on  account  of  the  kissing.  One  of  their  num- 
ber, the  father  of  twenty-two  children,  eighteen  of  them 
twins  in  nine  pairs,  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  at  every 
place  where  any  of  the  sisters  had  assembled  for  a 
social  interview,  so  as  to  kiss  them  all ;  but  the  Church 
deeming  his  motives  impure,  he  was  expelled. 

Another  feature  of  their  economy  was,  at  their  Sab- 
bath meetings,  to  have  a  common  meal  for  dinner,  at 
the  close  of  which  each  one  would  announce  what  part 
he  would  bring  for  the  ensuing  Sabbath  dinner.  After 
the  parents  had  eaten,  the  children  and  strangers  were 
invited  to  the  table.  A  poor  widow  was  usually  se- 
lected to  cook,  the  fragments  being  hers,  which  often 
supplied  her  family  for  the  ensuing  week. 

They  had  no  regular  pastor  after  the  death  of  San- 
deman  in  1772,  but  they  had  several  elders  who  took 
the  lead  in  worship.  Their  mode  was  for  an  elder  to 
arise  and  give  out  a  psalm  in  House's  version,  sing  and 
pray,  and  then,  each  one  having  a  Bible,  any  one,  as  he 
or  she  felt  moved,  would  cite  a  passage  and  comment  on 
it.  This  usually  led  to  remarks  from  others,  and  some- 
times lengthy  discussions  of  not  a  harmonious  char- 
acter, and  at  length  led  to  disruptions  and  divisions. 

My  maternal  grandfather  joined  them  soon  after 
Mr.  Sandeman  came  to  the  town,  which  was  about  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  17 

year  1766,  or  one  year  after  his  landing  in  America, 
my  grandfather  being  eighteen  years  of  age.  Ten 
years  after,  when  the  Kevolutionary  war  had  got  fairly 
under  way,  these  people  had  for  their  text,  Eomans  xiii, 
1,  2:  "Let  every  one  be  subject  unto  the  higher  pow- 
ers. .  .  .  The  powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God. 
.  .  .  And  they  that  resist  shall  receive  to  themselves 
damnation,"  etc.  And  though  my  grandfather  was  a 
Whig  in  sentiment  and  feeling,  and  wished  for  the  free- 
dom of  his  country,  yet  he  dared  not  take  up  arms 
against  the  king,  supposing,  if  he  did,  he  should  resist 
the  ordinance  of  God,  and  receive  damnation  to  his 
soul.  He  believed  that  all  things  whatsoever  that  came 
to  pass  were  fore-ordained  of  God,  and  that  consequently 
he  had  ordained  that  King  George  should  rule  over  this 
country.  But  it  seems  that  it  did  not  occur  to  them 
that  resistance  to  the  king  had  come  to  pass,  as  well  as 
the  crowning,  and  if  the  one  was  fore-ordained  so  the 
other  must  have  been. 

In  this  state  of  his  religious  belief  he  was  drafted  to 
serve  in  the  militia,  but  refused  upon  conscientious 
principles,  based  upon  the  above-named  text.  He  was, 
therefore,  treated  as  a  Tory,  and  was  taken  to  the  camp 
at  Peekskill  on  the  Hudson  Eiver,  court  martialed,  and 
sentenced  to  receive  twenty-five  lashes  on  the  bare 
back,  on  one  da}T,  and  be  offered  his  gun  and  accouter- 
ments  the  next  day,  and  if  he  took  his  place  in  the 
ranks,  well,  if  not,  to  receive  twenty-five  lashes,  as 
before,  the  day  following,  and  so  on,  alternately,  till 
whipped  to  death. 

He  decided  to  die  for  conscience,  sake,  and  took 
the  first  twenty-five  lashes,  which  he  said  were  well 
laid  on,  causing  the  blood  to  flow,  and  the  day  follow- 
ing, when  the  arms  were  offered  him,  he  refused  to  take 
them.  But  Major  Ezra  Starr,  a  fellow-townsman, 
knowing  his  good  character  at  home  for  honesty  and 


18  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

industry,  and  believing  his  refusal  to  bear  arms  was  not 
from  opposition  to  the  cause  of  American  freedom,  but 
a  religious  fanaticism,  hired  a  substitute  for  him,  who 
took  his  place,  and  he  was  released  and  sent  home.  I 
have  often  heard  my  grandfather  say  that  he  worked 
for  the  Major  to  the  amount  of  a  year,  in  day's  work, 
and  felt  thankful  at  that;  and,  as  a  further  mark  of 
respect  for  the  Major,  he  named  a  son  for  him,  Ezra 
Starr  Cozier.  This  son  was,  in  after  life,  Mayor  of  the 
city  of  Utica,  New  York,  and  died  there  of  the  cholera 
in  1832.  But  before  that  war  closed  the  Glassites 
dropped  that  text,  and  took  up  another  one,  which 
allowed  them  to  fight  in  the  cause  of  freedom,  and  they 
did  so  with  a  will. 

At  another  time  they  took  up  the  passage,  "  Sell 
that  thou  hast  and  give  alms  to  the  poor,  and  thou 
shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven,"  etc.  Under  this  rule 
my  grandfather  sold  all  the  property  he  had,  about  four 
thousand  dollars'  worth,  and  gave  it  to  the  poor,  and 
began  the  world  anew.  They  afterward  changed  to 
another  text,  requiring  industry  and  economy,  and  he 
accumulated  about  two  thousand  dollars'  worth  more, 
when  they  returned  to  the  same  text,  and  he  sold  out 
all  again,  and  gave  it  away.  But,  notwithstanding  all 
this  devotion  to  this  erroneous  creed,  he  died  an  atheist, 
into  which  he  was  run  by  the  absurdities  of  the  Calvin- 
ian  decrees. 

My  father,  being  left  heir  to  a  thousand  dollars, 
which,  in  those  times,  was  considerable  of  a  start  in 
the  world  for  a  young  man,  rather  outlived  his  income. 
He  was  not  of  bad  habits,  but  fond  of  good  living,  and 
the  higher  class  of  society.  This  ran  through  with  his 
property,  and  in  1800  he  moved  to  Sing  Sing,  on  the 
Hudson  Eiver,  JS\  Y.,  and  opened  a  public-house,  a 
brick-yard,  and  kept  the  ferry  from  the  Upper,  or  Del- 
avan's,  Dock,  to  Perry's  Landing  and  Haverstraw. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  19 

In  the  brick-yard,  and  on  the  ferry-boat,  I  partici- 
pated in  the  labors,  as  far  as  my  age  and  strength 
would  admit  of,  in  the  Summers,  and  in  the  Winters 
attended  school.  In  ferrying  I  became  a  boatman,  and 
the  risks  of  life  I  passed  in  the  business  cause  my 
blood  to  chill  often,  when  I  think  of  them,  to  this  day. 
Yet  what  I  learned  of  boating  in  that  period  of  my  life 
was  of  great  use  to  me  in  after  3'ears,  when  in  the  army, 
and  in  my  missionary  toils  on  the  Western  lakes  and 
rivers.  Indeed,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  nautical  skill 
I  attained  before  I  was  thirteen  years  of  age,  I  should, 
with  a  wife  and  five  children,  and  a  score  of  others, 
most  likely,  have  found  a  watery  grave  in  Lake  Erie, 
notice  of  which  will  be  hereafter  taken. 

While  residing  at  Sing  Sing  I  learned  many  inter- 
esting incidents  of  the  Revolutionary  war,  that  I  have 
not  seen  in  print.  This  town  was  within  what  was  called 
the  lines,  between  the  British,  while  they  occupied  New 
York  city,  and  the  Americans,  in  the  country.  At  my 
father's  public-house,  and  in  the  town,  the  Whigs  and 
Tories  of  the  Ee volution  often  met,  and  when  rum  was 
in,  and  wit  out,  they  often  recited  the  scenes  of  "those 
days  that  tried  men's  souls,"  in  words  that  ended  in 
bloody  noses  and  bruised  faces.  But  the  sober  details 
of  those  scenes,  by  those  who  participated  in  them, 
made  a  deep  and  lasting  impression  on  my  youthful 
mind,  and  are  vividly  before  me  at  this  writing. 

On  the  spot  where  the  State-Prison  now  stands  I 
have  often  played,  fished,  and,  at  low  tide,  ate  oysters 
from  the  rocks  on  which  they  grew.  Near  the  Point, 
just  above  the  site  of  the  prison,  was  a  silver  mine, 
said  to  have  been  wrought  previous  to  the  Revolution, 
under  the  direction,  and  for  the  special  benefit  of  the 
British  Crown.  On  my  first  visit  to  the  place,  in  the 
year  1800,  I  was  shown  what  was  said  to  be  the  remains 
of  the  pump  used  to  raise  the  water  from  the  shaft.     It 


20  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

stood  just  above  high-water  mark,  and  near  the  rocks 
which  bind  the  coast  of  the  river  at  that  place.  The 
shaft  was  said  to  have  been  thirty  or  forty  feet,  per- 
pendicular, and  then  run  on  a  level,  under  the  bed  of 
the  river,  some  distance.  When  the  Revolution  broke 
out,  the  miners  left,  and,  at  the  time  I  speak  of,  the 
shaft  was  filled  up  by  the  wash  from  the  hill,  and  the 
pump  was  nearly  decayed,  it  being  twenty-five  years, 
at  least,  since  it  was  placed  there.  In  1817  it  was 
stated  in  the  papers  that  an  attempt  was  made  to  re- 
open the  mine,  but  I  believe  it  proved  a  failure. 

From  the  brow  of  the  river  bank,  back  some  thirty 
or  forty  rods,  was  a  beautifully  inclined  plain,  thickly 
covered  with  small  pitch-pine  trees,  the  foliage  of 
which  so  intermingled  with  each  other  as  to  exclude 
the  rays  of  the  sun  from  the  ground,  and  give  the 
place  a  very  somber  appearance.  A  single  foot-path 
passed  through  it  from  the  Lower  Dock  to  Sparta.  But 
as  ignorance  and  superstition  attached  to  this  grove 
the  idea  of  ghosts  and  hobgoblins,  it  required  more 
than  ordinary  nerve  in  a  boy,  and  most  men,  to  pass 
through  it  alone  in  the  day-time,  without  fearful  ap- 
prehensions; and  it  was  so  horribly  dark  in  the  night 
that  but  few  attempted  to  pass  it,  and  then  only  in 
cases  of  extreme  necessity,  and  with  company,  and 
lights  to  guide  them. 

The  bank  of  the  river,  at  this  point,  was,  probably, 
twenty  feet  high  above  the  beach.  In  the  channel  of 
the  river,  opposite,  lay  a  British  guard-ship,  in  the  Rev- 
olutionary war ;  and  to  this  point,  and  in  the  shades 
of  this  grove,  the  "  Cow  Boys,"  that  is,  the  Tories,  who 
stole  their  neighbors'  cattle,  would  drive  their  stolen 
herds,  and  signal  the  ship,  the  captain  of  which  would 
send  a  boat  to  take  on  the  cattle  and  their  drivers,  and 
convey  them  to  the  ship. 

This  being  discovered  by  the  Whigs,  a  party  of  them 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  21 

went  to  the  spot,  and  dug  a  trench,  so  as  to  form  a 
breast- work,  and  kindled  the  signal-fire,  whereupon  two 
large  ships'  yawls  were  manned  and  sent  ashore.  As 
the  boats  struck  the  shore,  the  sailors,  as  is  their  cus- 
tom, rose  to  their  feet,  when  a  deadly  fire  was  opened 
upon  them,  and  most  of  them  fell,  dead  or  wounded. 
Those  who  escaped  shoved  off  the  boats,  and  went  back 
to  the  ship.  In  the  mean  time,  those  on  board,  hear- 
ing the  firing,  opened  their  big  guns  on  the  tricky 
Yankees,  but  aimed  so  high,  in  order  not  to  hit  their 
own  men,  that  they  entirely  overshot  their  mark.  The 
Yankees  then  took  the  back  track,  and  soon  found  and 
dispersed  the  Tories,  and  the  owners  of  the  cattle  re- 
covered them.  This  was  said  to  break  up  this  contra- 
band trade  at  that  place.  But  I  have  heard  some  of 
the  elderly  ladies  of  that  time  tell  of  going  down  to  the 
beach  in  the  day-time,  with  chickens,  eggs,  butter,  or 
vegetables,  and  raising  a  white  handkerchief  on  a  pole, 
and  thus  calling  the  boat,  and  procuring  some  tea  by 
the  trade ;  they  were  in  so  much  want  of  the  article, 
and  none  was  otherwise  to  be  obtained. 

This  grove  was  somewhat  famous  on  another  ac- 
count. Its  gloomy  appearance  attached  to  it  the  idea 
of  a  suitable  place  for  the  pirate  Kidd  to  deposit  his 
ill-gotten  gains  upon  the  high  seas;  and  at  the  east 
side  of  the  grove  was  a  ledge  of  rocks,  running  parallel 
with  the  river,  at  the  foot  of  which  some  one's  imagi- 
nation placed  the  money,  and  from  some  appearances, 
fancied  that  he  had  found  the  spot.  But,  as  it  was  said 
that  Kidd,  when  he  buried  his  money,  also  killed  and 
buried  a  man  with  it,  to  watch  it,  and  whose  ghost  wTas 
to  guard  it,  it  was  expected  that  a  contest  would  occur 
when  an  attempt  was  made  to  exhume  it,  and  it  was, 
therefore,  deemed  prudent  and  necessary  to  have  help; 
and  from  fear  of  discovery,  and  the  owner  of  the  lands 
claiming  the  treasure,  if  found,  the   digging  must  be 


22  A    WESTERN    PIONEER! 

done  in  the  night.  Under  these  circumstances  but  few 
had  nerve  enough  to  undertake  the  hazardous  business. 
In  this  case,  those  who  wished  to  dig  sought  for  com- 
pany and  help  from  one  who  had  no  faith  in  the  adven- 
ture; but  being  fond  of  fun,  let  on  to  do  so,  and  at  the 
same  time  arranged  to  have  others  present,  who  should 
act  the  part  of  the  ghosts,  and  prepared  masks,  made 
of  blue  sugar-loaf  paper.  One  had  a  wheel-barrow,  to 
which  was  attached  numerous  small  pieces  of  tin,  so 
arranged  as  to  jingle  loudly;  another  had  a  horse-fiddle, 
the  noise  of  which  resembled  the  braying  of  an  ass, 
nearer  than  any  thing  else;  another  had  a  tin  horn, 
with  a  goose-quill  squeaker  in  it,  the  noise  of  which 
equaled  the  fiddle;  others  had  cow-bells,  and  other 
frightfully  noisy  implements;  all  being  armed  with 
fire-arms.  In  this  plight  they  repaired  to  the  spot,  or 
near  it,  and  hid  themselves  in  the  woods,  ready  for 
action. 

The  diggers  came  in  due  time,  very  still,  of  course, 
and  with  every  necessary  precaution  to  prevent  discov- 
ery; but  they  had  but  just  begun  to  dig  when  fearful 
noises  were  heard,  which  the  diggers — except  the 
traitor — supposed  to  be  from  the  ghost  of  Kidd's  mur- 
dered man.  This,  of  course,  settled  the  question  with 
them,  as  to  the  locality  of  the  treasure  they  were  in 
pursuit  of,  and  they  plied  the  shovel  and  spade  with  a 
will.  But  the  noises  increased,  and  the  supposed  ghost 
approached,  with  torches  lighted,  fire-arms  roaring  in 
the  dense  grove;  and,  on  turning  to  see  who  and  what 
was  coming,  the  diggers,  to  their  consternation,  instead 
of  seeing  ghosts,  clad  in  white,  as  they  are  generally 
supposed  to  be,  saw  devils,  as  black  as  Tophet,  with 
great  ears  and  horns  sticking  out,  and  they  concluded 
that  the  bad  place  had  broken  loose,  and  the  demons 
were  after  them  in  earnest!  This  was  too  much  for 
flesh  to  bear  or  withstand,  and  they  took  to  their  heels, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  23" 

for  dear  life;  and  the  wheel-barrow,  the  horn,  the  bells, 
and  one  man  with  a  tom-cat  in  a  bag,  whose  tail  he  bit 
till  the  cat  raised  a  terrible  caterwaul,  all  after  the 
diggers,  and  followed  them  so  close  that  it  was  said 
some  of  them  fainted,  and  came  near  to  dying  from 
the  fright. 

There  was  one  other  spot  in  the  neighborhood  which 
had  a  similar  adventure.  There  was  then,  and  probably 
is  3Tet,  a  large,  round,  granite  rock,  a  mile  or  so  above  the 
Upper  or  Delavan's  Dock,  and  at  the  south  of  "Osser's 
Fishing  Beach."  At  high  tide,  this  rock  was  nearly 
covered  with  water.  At  low  tide  it  was  nearly  bare, 
and  the  sand-beach  connected  it  with  the  shore,  mak- 
ing it  a  point  projecting  from  the  shore  into  the  river. 
Almost  at  the  water's  edge,  at  low  tide,  there  were 
two  pairs  of  parallel  marks,  about  three-fourths  of  an 
inch  wide,  resembling  the  half  of  a  three-quarter-inch 
auger-hole.  Each  pair  was  parallel,  and  the  two  pairs 
verged  a  little  toward  each  other  at  their  south-east 
ends,  so  as  to  bring  their  lines  together  at  about  half  a 
mile's  distance,  at  the  foot  of  a  hill,  and  at  the  mouth 
of  a  small  run  of  water.  It  was  supposed  that  Kidd 
had  buried  some  of  his  money  near  to  where  these  two 
lines  came  to  a  point.  And  Mr.  Osser,  the  owner  of 
the  land,  had  dug  in  the  hill  for  it,  but  found  none. 

In  1804  the  yellow  fever  drove  most  of  the  people 
out  of  the  city  of  New  York,  who  found  residences  in 
the  country  wherever  they  could,  and  Sing  Sing  was 
crowded  to  overflowing.  Every  kind  of  tenement,  ca- 
pable of  holding  human  beings  in  warm  weather,  was 
occupied  to  its  utmost  capacity — some  living  on  their 
money,  and  others  brought  their  goods  and  opened 
stores,  and  mechanics  opened  their  shops,  while  others 
found  employ  as  day-laborers.  Among  the  rest  were  a 
company  of  silversmiths,  who  wrought  at  silver- 
plate;    and   among  this  great  crowd    were  many  who 


24  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

delighted  in  fun  of  some  kind,  and  their  wits  were 
strained  to  their  utmost  tension  to  devise  and  execute 
schemes  for  sport. 

About  this  time  an  old  Juke  supposed  that  he  had 
found  the  spot,  the  very  spot  in  the  valley  of  the  little 
run  above  described,  where  Kidd  had  deposited  his 
money,  and  to  which  these  singular  marks  on  the 
rock  pointed.  But,  presuming  that  the  coin  was  now 
out  of  date  and  would  not  pass  as  money,  he  made  a 
confidant  of  one  of  the  silversmiths,  and  proposed  a 
partnership  in  the  enterprise,  with  the  agreement  that 
the  smith  should  take  all  the  old  coin  to  work  up  in  his 
shop,  and  give  the  old  man  the  half  of  the  value  thereof 
in  current  money,  and  the  time  was  fixed  upon  for  the 
digging  to  be  done — in  the  night,  of  course,  or  Mr.  Os- 
ser  would  claim  the  treasure,  it  being  on  his  land. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  smith  made  known  the  plan 
of  operations  to  all  his  spree-loving  friends,  and  due 
preparations  were  made  to  have  a  time  of  it.  Each  one 
was  supplied  with  a  black  mask,  and  cap  with  long  ears 
and  horns;  and  each  one  had  in  each  hand  torches 
made  of  oakum  saturated  with  spirits  of  turpentine.  An 
inveterate  smoker,  who  could  light  a  new  cigar  from 
the  stub  of  an  old  one,  and  thus  keep  up  fire  to  any 
length  of  time  he  pleased — lucifer  matches  were  not 
then  known — climbed  a  tree,  over  the  spot  selected  for 
the  digging,  while  the  others  hid  themselves  in  the 
woods. 

As  soon  as  the  digging  commenced,  the  man  in  the 
tree-top  cried  out,  in  the  most  sepulchral  voice  he 
could  assume:  "Stop  digging!  stop  digging!  That's 
my  money!  that's  my  money!"  The  old  man  thought 
that  surely  he  had  hit  upon  the  right  spot,  and  that 
Kidd's  walking  ghost  was  aroused,  and  he  dug  away 
with  a  will.  But  soon  the  same  words  came  down  as 
from  the  clouds,   warning  the  diggers  to  cease,  with 


,,i 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  25 

more  assumed  authority  than  before.  But  the  old  man 
urged  on  the  spade  with  still  more  force,  the  smith, 
meanwhile,  pretending  to  be  encouraged  with  the  pros- 
pect before  them. 

At  this  juncture,  the  man  in  the  tree-top  ignited  his 
torch,  which  was  placed  upon  a  small  board,  wired  up 
some  distance,  and  then  connected  to  a  string,  and  let 
the  blazing  torch  run  down  to  the  ground,  like  a  ball 
of  fire  from  a  thunder-cloud,  when  all  the  pretended 
demons  of  the  woods  ran  up  and  touched  their  torches 
to  the  lighted  one,  and  in  a  moment  they  were  dancing 
round  the  diggers,  the  woods  being  nearly  as  light  as 
day.  By  this  time  the  smith  had  backed  out,  and  hid 
behind  a  tree  to  see  the  sport,  and  the  old  man  was 
left  to  defend  his  own  cause  as  best  he  could.  But,  see- 
ing so  many  devils  around  him,  he  ceased  digging,  and 
stood  leaning  on  the  spade-handle,  when  the  demons 
approached  him  so  near  as  to  flirt  the  burning  fluid  into 
his  face.  This,  he  thought,  was  a  little  too  much  like  a 
hotter  place  he  had  heard  of,  and,  fearing  the  devils,  as 
he  supposed  them  to  be,  would  lay  violent  hands  on 
him,  and  drag  him  into  it,  he  fled  for  a  safer  place. 
One  of  the  New  Yorkers,  who  was  a  witness  of  the 
scene,  declared  that  the  devil  sprung  his  net,  and,  if 
it  had  not  caught  in  the  top  of  a  white-oak-tree,  he 
would  have  got  every  one  of  them.  This  ended  the 
digging  for  that  kind  of  money  in  that  region  in  my 
time. 

But,  some  forty  years  later,  the  papers  stated  that  a 
company  was  formed  in  New  York  with  a  view  to  re- 
cover some  of  Kidd's  money,  supposed  to  have  been  in 
a  ship  sunk  in  a  cove  a  little  above  Peekskill,  and  op- 
posite to  Dunder  Barrack,  but  which,  like  all  other 
such  foolish  attempts,  proved  a  total  failure. 

Why,  or  how,  tMs  wild  delusion  ever  obtained  the 
currency  it  did  is  a  mystery.     I  never  could  learn,  from 


26* 


A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 


the  life  of  Kidd,  or  any  other  authentic  history,  that 
the  pirate  was  ever  on  the  American  coast.  In  his  day 
there  was  no  inducement  for  a  free-booter  to  hover  on 
this  coast.  There  was  then  but  little  trade,  and  that  not 
in  money  or  rich  goods,  which  such  men  are  generally 
in  pursuit  of.  And  further,  there  was  a  sufficient  settle- 
ment in  New  York,  and  the  neighboring  coast,  to  pre- 
vent his  seeking  harbors  of  repose  in  that  vicinity. 
His  life  shows  that  the  scenes  of  his  depredations  were 
on  the  track  of  ships  to  and  from  England  and  the  In- 
dies, and  that  he  made  but  few  captures  even  there 
before  he  was  taken  and  hung. 

There  is,  nearly  opposite  Sing  Sing,  about  midway  of 
the  river,  a  singular  narrow  strip  of  land,  which  runs 
up  and  down  the  river,  and,  in  very  high  tides,  is  an 
island.  It  is  about  three  miles  long,  though  but  a  few 
rods  wide,  except 'where  it  connects  with  the  main  land 
by  a  salt  marsh.  The  southern  point  of  it,  called  Tel- 
lows'  Point,  forms  the  western  side  of  Croton  Cove. 
Near  this  southern  point,  in  the  Eevolution,  lay  one  of 
the  British  guard-ships.  But  the  Whigs,  not  liking 
such  neighbors,  conveyed  an  eighteen -pounder  cannon 
to  the  Point,  in  the  night,  dug  a  trench,  planted  the 
gun,  and  as  daylight  appeared,  and  the  tide  being  on 
the  turn,  and  no  wind  to  fill  the  sails,  Jonathan  let 
loose  his  war-dog  upon  the  vessel,  aiming  so  as  to  hit 
her  between  wind  and  water.  In  this  they  were  suc- 
cessful, and  opened  a  passage  for  the  water  into  her 
hold,  and  came  very  near  sinking  her.  The  ship 
opened  her  batteries,  and  scattered  grape  and  canister 
shot  over  the  assailants,  and  sent  out  two  boats,  one 
each  side  of  the  Point,  filled  with  armed  men,  to  cut 
off  the  retreat  of  these  daring  Yankees;  but,  seeing 
their  danger,  they  spiked  their  gun,  and  retreated  in 
safety.  But  the  ship  slipped  her-  cable,  and  the  tide 
"beginning  to  fall,  she  drifted  away,  and  they  covered 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSOX.  27 

the  holes  made  in  her  side  with  tarpaulins,  or  canvas 
saturated  with  tar  and  paint,  to  prevent  her  from  sink- 
ing till  she  could  be  repaired.  In  my  boyhood  I  was 
in  that  intrenchment,  and  saw  canister  and  grape-shot 
that  were  turned  up  by  the  plow,  and  supposed  to  be 
of  those  used  at  this  time. 


CHAPTER  II. 

WHILE  residing  at  Sing  Sing  I  first  saw  and  heard  of 
the  Methodists.  Barney  Matthias  was  the  first  min- 
ister of  this  order  that  I  ever  saw  or  heard.  There  was  a 
small  class  in  the  place,  and  more  in  the  country  near 
at  hand.  My  father  wTas  opposed  to  them,  in  common 
with  others  of  a  worldly  cast  of  mind;  and,  like  other 
children,  I  imbibed  his  prejudices.  There  was,  how- 
ever, one  man  of  this  class,  Samuel  Wandal,  for  whom 
my  father  had  such  an  attachment  that  he  gave  the 
name  to  his  youngest  son. 

In  1804,  I  think  it  was,  the  Methodists  held  a  camp- 
ing in  Stevenstown,  afterward  called  Sommers,  about 
twenty  miles  from  Sing  Sing,  which  was  said  to  be  the 
first  meeting  of  the  kind  ever  held  in  that  region  of 
country.  I  recollect  of  large  companies',  of  wThat  I  then 
supposed  to  be  deluded  mortals,  who  came  from  Kew 
York  city  and  other  parts,  by  water,  to  our  landing, 
and  took  passage  in  wagons  to  the  camp-ground. 

Of  this  meeting  all  manner  of  evil  was  said,  and  a 
stranger  would  think,  from  the  representations  made, 
that  pandemonium  had  broken  loose,  and  these  Method- 
ists were  nothing  but  demons  incarnate.  But  as  some 
of  our  neighbors,  who  attended  the  meeting  out  of  mere 
curiosity,  came  home  changed  in  their  natures,  habits, 


28  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  characters  the  more  candid  and  reflective  were 
staggered  in  their  former  unfavorable  opinions,  doubt- 
ing whether  incarnate  demons  could  or  would  do  such 
good. 

In  1805  a  camp-meeting  was  held  on  the  lands  of 
Governor  Courtland,  near  the  Croton  Eiver,  and  four  or 
five  miles  from  Sing  Sing.  The  announcement  of  the 
meeting  to  be  held  on  the  old  Governor's  land  led  to 
many,  and,  as  its  enemies  thought,  very  grave  and  phil- 
osophical remarks.  It  first  struck  the  populace  with 
wonder  and  surprise;  and,  as  mankind  are  generally 
philosophical  in  their  way,  and  presume  that  every  ef- 
fect must  have  a  cause,  and  every  action  a  motive,  the 
reason  for  this  strange  act  in  the  Governor  was  sought 
for  with  great  solicitude.  Some  thought  that  the  old 
gentleman  was  in  his  dotage,  and  was  led  astray  by  the 
so-called  fanatics.  Others  thought  it  was  to  add  the 
influence  of  his  name  to  the  meeting,  thereby  to  pre- 
serve good  order.  But  the  greater  wonder  of  all  was, 
the  great  multitude  of  attendants.  They  came  by 
hundreds  from  the  city  in  sloops  to  our  docks;  but  from 
thence  up  to  the  Croton  they  had  to  be  conveyed  by 
smaller  crafts,  and  my  father  made  quite  a  raise  by  using 
his  ferry-boat  for  this  purpose;  but  still,  when  we  got 
upon  the  ground  wre  found  that  but  a  small  portion  of 
them  came  in  that  way.  Boats  and  vessels  had  landed 
them  in  similar  numbers  at  Courtlandville,  while  hun- 
dreds of  wagons  and  other  carriages  had  come  loaded 
from  the  country.  Such  a  multitude  of  Methodists! 
Where  did  they  all  come  from?  The  world  must  be 
turning  upside  down,  and  all  running  after  this  strange 
people ! 

The  meeting  was  so  arranged  as  not  to  include  a 
Sabbath,  lest  the  rowdies  should  take  advantage  of  the 
day  to  make  disturbance,  and  Wednesday  was  fixed 
upon  by  the  outsiders  as  the  probable  great  day  of  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  29 

feast,  and  for  sight-seeing.  Accordingly,  on  that  day, 
my  father  went  and  took  me  with  him ;  and  I  availed 
myself  of  the  opportunity  to  see  and  hear  all  I  could. 
It  was  agreed  by  our  party  to  meet  at  a  certain  angle 
of  the  ground,  at  a  given  hour,  preparatory  to  return- 
ing home,  as  it  would  be  impossible  to  find  each  other 
in  such  a  crowd. 

On  the  ground  there  were  thousands,  but  how  many 
thousands  I  could  not  pretend  to  say.  Besides  the 
stand  from  which  to  preach  to  the  great  congregation, 
there  were  several  smaller  ones,  or  mere  blocks  of  wood, 
upon  which  the  preachers  stood  to  exhort  and  gather 
prayer-meetings  around  them,  in  the  intervals  of 
preaching  from  the  stand.  The  ground  was  vocal  with 
prayer,  preaching,  exhortation,  or  singing  the  whole 
time  I  was  on  it. 

I  shall  never  forget  the  scenes  in  one  prayer-ring  or 
circle,  and  my  thoughts  upon  viewing  it.  There  was  a 
ring  of  men  holding  hands,  within  which  I  judged 
there  were  two  hundred  persons,  some  standing,  some 
kneeling,  some  sitting,  some  praying,  some  singing,  and 
a  large  number  lying  on  the  ground  lieTpless,  while 
others  were  shouting  the  praise  of  God.  Some  were 
apparently  in  the  greatest  possible  mental  distress,  while 
others  were  striving  to  comfort  them,  or  were  praying 
for  them. 

While  I  stood  near  this  human  wall  that  surrounded 
them,  and  was  viewing  the  scenes  within,  the  like  of 
which  I  had  never  seen  before — though  I  have  seen 
hundreds  of  such  since — I  wondered  how  people  could 
be  so  simple  as  to  yield  to  such  influences;  when  I  saw 
a  man  pluck  the  sleeve  of  a  woman  to  get  her  eye,  and 
as  her  eye  met  his,  he  turned  his  eye  upon  the  scene 
before  them,  and  then  their  eyes  met  again,  and  they 
smiled  as  if  highly  pleased.  In  my  ignorance,  I  thought 
the  devil  was  in  those  people  on  the  ground,  and  that 


30  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

this  couple  was  laughing  in  their  sleeves  to  think  how 
they  had  succeeded  in  the  matter.  In  after  years,  how- 
ever, I  understood  the  thing  better.  Having  obtained 
religion  myself,  on  viewing  such  scenes,  I  think  of  the 
angels  who  rejoice  over  one  sinner  that  repenteth,  and 
if  angels  in  heaven  rejoice  on  such  occasions,  surely 
saints  on  earth  may  do  so. 

The  Governor  was  present  in  his  carriage,  and  his 
presence  and  moral  influence,  together  with  his  control 
over  the  ground,  seemed  to  deter  the  rowTdies  from  gross 
acts  of  disturbance  there.  But  they  congregated  at  a 
rum-hole  a  mile  or  so  west  of  the  camp-ground,  on 
another  man's  land,  and  took  it  fore  and  aft,  rough 
and  tumble  among  themselves. 

In  this,  the  devil's  camp,  I  wandered  wTith  the  mul- 
titude. This  assemblage  was  also  large,  but  were  very 
differently  employed  from  the  others.  Some  were  drunk 
as  brutes,  and  others  in  all  the  stages  of  inebriation, 
from  dead  drunk  to  the  first  stages  of  merry  feelings. 
Some  were  running  horses,  some  w^ere  fighting  just  for 
the  fun  of  the  thing,  there  being  no  provocation.  Some 
were  eating  cakes  and  other  good  things,  and  drinking 
small  or  spruce-beer,  and  passing  their  jokes  in  merry- 
making, while  others  were  trading  horses,  watches,  or 
other  property.  The  contrast  between  the  two  places 
w^as  so  great,  and  this  last  being  so  vile,  and  bearing 
the  unmistakable  marks  of  the  works  of  the  devil,  I 
could  but  conclude,  in  spite  of  the  prejudice  of  my 
mind,  that  the  people  on  the  camp-ground  were  serv- 
ing God. 

As  I  have  already  stated,  Sing  Sing  was  in  what  was 
called  the  lines  between  the  British  and  American 
armies  in  the  Eevolution,  the  scenes  of  which  were 
among  the  chief  topics  of  conversation,  and  being 
naturally  of  a  military  turn  of  mind,  I  took  a  deep  in- 
terest in  such  matters.     My  plays  with  other  boys  were 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  31 

of  a  military  cast.  I  cast  little  cannons  of  lead,  and 
mounted  them  on  regular  miniature  carriages,  and 
trained  my  playmates  in  the  use  of  wooden  guns, 
swords,  etc.  My  father  seeing  this,  and  following  the 
rule  laid  down  by  Dr.  Bush,  in  selecting  a  boy's  occu- 
pation, determined  to  fit  me  for  and  send  me  to  West 
Point  Military  School ;  and  to  begin,  sent  me  to  the 
academy  taught  by  Bev.  Mr.  Nelson. 

This  school  was  large,  having  many  boarding  stu- 
dents from  New  York  city;  and  in  our  pastimes  and 
play  hours  we  formed  two  military  companies.  We 
must  have  two  companies  to  represent  the  spirit  of  the 
times,  and  the  place,  and  country  over  which  the  Ameri- 
cans and  British  had  roamed  in  the  deadly  strife.  I  was 
chosen  captain  of  the  American  corps,  and  George 
Meredith,  of  the  city,  was  chosen  captain  of  the  British. 
We  armed  ourselves  with  wooden  guns,  swords,  and 
pistols.  In  our  drills  we  often  had  sham  battles;  but 
the  prominent  characteristic  of  my  nature,  never  to 
come  out  second  best,  if  possible  to.  avoid  it,  showed 
itself  in  these  strifes,  though  I  was  unconscious  of  such 
a  passion  at  the  time ;  and  I  would  lead  my  boys  pell- 
mell  upon  the  representative  enemy,  despite  sticks,  and 
even  hands  and  fists,  and  cause  them  to  break  ranks 
and  retreat. 

In  after  life,  when  a  soldier  in  actual  service,  and  in 
my  ecclesiastical  contests,  first  adopting  the  motto  of 
Davy  Crockett,  ';  be  sure  you  are  right,  then  go  ahead," 
I  found  this  feeling  and  principle  to  be  one  of  nature, 
and  "what  is  bred  in  the  bone  is  hard  to  get  out  of 
the  flesh;"  and  nothing  but  an  uncontrollable  Provi- 
dence in  suffering  events  to  occur,  has  ever  broken  my 
spirits,  or  caused  me  to  quail  in  what  I  deemed  to  be 
duty,  and  right  in  itself. 

While  residing  at  Sing  Sing,  I  became  an  orphan  by 
the  death  of  my  father,  when  but  thirteen  years  of  age, 


32  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  the  eldest  of  seven  children.  The  time  and  cir- 
cumstances of  it  were  not  only  afflictive,  but  the  pro- 
curing cause  of  it  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  things, 
and  admonitory.  From  eighteen  to  twenty-one  years 
of  age  he  participated  in  the  New  England  sports  of 
lifting,  wrestling,  running  foot-races,  jumping,  etc.  He 
excelled  in  lifting  and  wrestling  at  a  back-hug.  It  was 
customary  for  young  men  to  assemble  in  the  evenings 
and  enter  into  these  sports.  Fighting  at  fisticuffs  was 
deemed  disgraceful.  A  bully  was  ranked  with  a  horse- 
jockey,  and  he  but  little  better  than  a  horse-thief  or 
counterfeiter.  Hence,  if  Yankees  entered  into  such 
enterprises,  it  was  usually  in  places  distant  from 
home.  But  the  gymnastics  were  deemed  honorable, 
and  young  men  were  ambitious  to  excel  in  them,  as 
were  the  ancients  in  the  Olympic  games. 

This  ambition  inspired  him,  and  he  never  met  a 
man  that  could  equal  him  at  a  dead  lift,  or  a  back-hug. 
I  have  heard  him  say  that  he  would  get  up  at  mid- 
night to  lift,  if  cal-led  upon.  And  to  retain  his  position 
in  the  g}'mnasium  he  has  wrought  many  times,  till  in 
a  high  state  of  perspiration,  and  then  would  stand  in 
the  night  air,  with  the  dew  falling,  and  in  his  shirt 
sleeves,  or  without  a  coat,  and  laugh  and  talk  till  the 
sweat  struck  in,  from  which  he  took  repeated  colds, 
and  finally,  at  twenty-one  years  of  age,  became  a  par- 
tial cripple  from  rheumatism,  which  was  the  procuring 
cause  of  his  being  drowned. 

As  before  stated,  he  kept  the  ferry,  and  I  was  his 
chief  assistant.  Usually  his  complaint  was  worse  in  the 
Winter  than  in  warmer  weather,  and  in  January  and 
February,  1806,  he  was  mostly  confined  to  the  house 
from  this  cause  ;  but  as  the  Spring  opened,  and  the  ice 
in  the  river  having  disappeared,  he  was  better  and  able 
to  be  out-of-doors ;  and,  on  the  6th  of  March,  1806,  a 
man  wishing  to  cross  the  river,  and  I  happening  to  be 


» 
REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  33 

absent  at  the  time,  he  went  alone.  I  saw  him  soon 
after  he  started,  and  seeing  that  lie  was  alone,  and 
knowing  his  afflicted  state,  I  had  the  strongest  feelings 
of  regret  at  being  away  from  home  that  had  ever  come 
over  me  ;  a  kind  of  premonition  of  evil  of  some  kind  as 
the  consequence,  and  so  expressed  myself  to  the  boys 
who  were  with  me ;  and  I  started  for  home  at  once,  to 
be  ready  to  meet  him  on  his  return,  and  assist  in  moor- 
ing the  boat. 

The  house  we  lived  in  was  partly  on  the  dock,  and 
the  nearest  one  to  his  place  of  landing,  and  as  he 
n eared  the  dock,  on  his  return,  I  stood  within  six  or 
eight  rods  of  him.  He  had  lowered  the  mainsail  of 
the  boat,  and  got  upon  the  forecastle  to  lower  the  fore- 
sail, and  as  he  stooped  to  loose  the  halyards  his  com- 
plaint took  him  with  a  stitch  in  the  back,  causing  a 
rebound,  which  threw  him  overboard  backward.  The 
boat  was  aperiogar,  of  two  masts. 

On  seeing  him  fall,  I  ran  across  the  dock  to  get  a 
boat  to  go  to  his  assistance,  and  jumped  into  a  sloop's 
yawl,  when  the  captain  of  the  sloop  hearing  the  alarm — 
for  others  saw  him  fall — jumped  in  with  me  and  sculled 
round  the  dock,  while  I  took  a  position  in  the  bow  of 
the  yawl  to  catch  hold  of  him  and  keep  him  from  sink- 
ing till  the  captain  could  take  hold  also. 

My  father  was  thickly  clothed  with  woolen,  and 
had  on  an  overcoat  thickly  lined,  and  tied  around  the 
waist  with  a  small  cord.  He  never  could  swim  where 
he  could  not  touch  bottom  with  his  feet;  but,  as  he 
was  now  clad,  with  thick  boots  on,  swimming  was  out 
of  the  question,  if  he  had  been  a  swimmer;  and  those 
who  watched  him  said  he  sank  b}T  degrees,  just  like  a 
rag  of  cloth  thrown  into  the  water. 

.  As  we  came  round  the  dock  the  top  of  his  naked 
head  was  just  visible  above  the  water,  his  cap  having 
fallen   off,  and    the    captain   was    so    excited    that    ho 


34  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

pressed  the  boat  so  fast  as  to  defeat  our  object.  As  we 
approached  him,  my  first  thought  was  to  take  the  boat's 
bow  rope  in  my  hand  and  jump  over  into  the  water, 
and  throw  my  legs  around  him  below  his  arms,  and 
hold  on  till  the  captain  could  haul  us  both  in.  But 
I  had  heard  of  a  drowning  man  being  saved  by  being 
caught  by  the  hair  of  his  head.  If  I  had  adopted  the 
first  plan  I  should  have  probably  perished  with  him ; 
but  adopting  the  other,  I  reached  down  and  took  hold 
of  his  hair,  which  being  short,  gave  me  but  a  slight 
hold,  and  not  sufficient  to  resist  the  velocity  of  the 
boat.  If  the  boat  had  had  less  momentum,  I  might 
have  held  on ;  but  she  struck  him,  as  we  afterward 
found,  on  the  bridge  of  his  nose  and  broke  my  hold, 
and  he  sank  to  rise  no  more  in  this  life. 

There  were,  by  this  time,  perhaps,  two  hundred 
people  on  the  dock,  many  of  whom  were  expert  swim- 
mers, and  who  would  have  dived  for  him  if  the  spot  of 
his  sinking  could  have  been  designated ;  but  the  quick 
motion  of  the  boat  rendered  this  impossible.  A  seine 
was  immediately  thrown  round  the  spot  in  a  sufficient 
circle,  it  was  thought,  to  inclose  the  body,  and  repeat- 
edly hauled,  till  midnight,  but  the  body  could  not  be  ob- 
tained. At  this  time  all  hope  of  resuscitating  him,  if 
found,  was  abandoned,  and  the  search  was  discontinued. 
The  next  day  the  body  was  found  some  twenty  rods 
from  where  he  sank,  and  on  the  other  or  south  side  of 
the  dock.  When  found  he  was  on  his  elbows  and 
knees,  as  if  crawling,  and  some  said  that  persons  thus 
drowned  did  thus  move  at  the  bottom  of  the  water. 
How  this  is  I  know  not. 

On  leaving  the  yawl  as  she  came  to  the  dock,  after 
he  had  sunk,  I  went  to  the  house,  which  was  crowded 
with  old  men,  women,  and  children,  the  younger  men 
being  in  search  of  the  body,  and  found  my  mother  sit- 
ting with  my  twin  brothers,  then  ten  months  old,  in 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  35 

her  lap,  the  picture  of  despair.  She  shed  no  tears;  she 
could  not.  She  said  afterward,  that  when  tears  did 
come,  it  was  a  relief  to  her  feelings. 

The  funeral  was  large,  my  father  being  much  re- 
Sf>ected,  and  the  circumstances  of  his  death  being  excit- 
ing. The  Rev.  Mr.  Nelson,  my  teacher,  preached  from  : 
"As  for  me  and  my  house,  we  will  serve  the  Lord." 
Under  this  discourse  my  mother  resolved  to  seek  the 
salvation  of  her  soul;  and  at  this  event  I  felt  the  first 
sense  of  my  own  sinfulness,  and  the  need  of  a  Savior, 
and  resolved,  with  my  mother,  to  seek  him  ;  but  did  not 
hold  out  as  she  did.  My  father,  not  being  a  professor 
of  religion,  like  other  worldly  men  indulged  in  sin. 
This  circumstance  gave  the  more  pungency  to  our  loss, 
and  gave  us  the  more  alarm  for  our  own  safety. 

In  the  last  years  of  his  life  my  father  had  followed 
stone-cutting,  making  tomb  and  other  stones  of  the  red 
sandstone,  then  quarried  at  Nyaelc,  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  river,  and  having  a  number  of  tombstones 
on  hand,  not  yet  lettered  when  he  died,  my  mother  had 
a  set  of  them  lettered  for  him,  and  placed  at  his  grave. 
33 ut  few  men,  if  any,  make  their  own  tombstones.  But 
thus  it  occurred. 

Previous  to  the  death  of  my  father  I  had  thought 
strongly  of  following  the  sea,  rather  than  entering  the 
army,  as  he  contemplated;  but  his  death,  and  especially 
the  manner  of  it,  gave  me  a  distaste  for  the  water;  and 
his  death  cutting  me  off  from  the  academy,  I  could  not 
obtain  the  necessary  preparation  to  enter  the  Military 
School,  even  if  I  could  have  found  a  friend  to  procure 
for  me  the  privilege — for,  in  such  cases,  "kissing 
goes  by  favor."  And,  furthermore,  my  mind  being  now 
religiously  impressed,  I  had  no  taste  for  that  mode  of 
life,  and  abandoned  the  idea  of  it  for  that  time. 

This  change  in  our  family  affairs  led  my  mother  to 
return  to  Danbury  with   her  famil}',  to  be  with  her 


36  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

parents  and  relatives,  and  thinking  the  place  more 
conducive  to  the  moral  and  religious  culture  of  her 
children.  In  this  last  particular  I  am  not  certain  that 
she  was  right,  owing  to  the  prevalence  of  Calvinism  ; 
for  I  knew  nothing  of  infidelity  and  skepticism  in 
religion  till  I  found  myself  among  deists,  who  were 
made  so  by  the  absurdities  of  that  ism.  Methodism  had, 
at  that  time,  a  foothold  in  Sing  Sing  that  it  had  not  in 
Danbury;  but  infidelity  had  a  foothold  in  the  latter 
that  I  knew  nothing  of  in  the  former,  and  I  found  the 
morals  of  the  two  places  much  alike.  There  were, 
however,  some  things  in  the  land  of  steady  habits  pref- 
erable to  the  other,  as  a  place  to  raise  a  family  at 
that  time. 

My  mother  applied  herself  to  religion  as  fast  and  as 
faithfully  as  her  Calvinistic  notions  would  admit  of,  not 
believing  in  or  looking  for  a  divine  change  until  after 
a  long  season  of  penitential  sorrow,  and  attaching, 
apparently,  more  importance  to  the  virtue  of  repentance, 
as  if  there  was  a  merit  in  it,  than  to  faith  in  Christ  for  a 
direct  and  immediate  change  of  heart,  pardon  of  sin, 
and  justification.  She,  with  her  family,  was  a  con- 
stant attendant  at  the  Congregational  meeting-house — 
the  word  church  was,  in  those  days,  and  in  that-countiy, 
monopolized  by  the  Episcopalians,  or  the  Church  of 
England,  as  they  were  called — the  Eev.  Mr.  Ward  then 
being  the  pastor;  and  before  Fall  she  met  with  a  change, 
and  "obtained  a  hope,"  in  the  vocabulary  of  that 
Church — for  they  applied  the  word  church  to  the  asso- 
ciated communicants,  though  not  to  the  house  they 
worshiped  in — and  became  a  member  thereof,  and 
continued  so  to  the  time  of  her  death. 

At  this  juncture  a  serious  question  arose  for  me  to 
decide.  It  was  a  usage,  and  probably  a  rule  of  dis- 
cipline among  them,  on  receiving  a  member,  to  baptize 
both  him,  or  her,  and  their  children,  if  it  had  not  pre- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  37 

viously  been  done;  and  as  neither  she  nor  her  children 
had  been  thus  dedicated  to  God,  it  must  now  be  done. 
But  my  age,  thirteen,  raised  the  question  whether  she 
could  properly  present  me  as  an  infant.  ^>ly  age  rather 
placed  me  among  adults;  but  it  was  left  to  me  to  decide 
whether  I  would  go  forward  in  the  ordinance  or  not, 
and  I  decided  at  once  to  do  so.  as  I  was  under  convic- 
tion for  sin,  and  determined  to  seek  for  pardon,  and 
would  receive  the  ordinance  as  much  on  my  own  ac- 
count as  on  hers;  and,  on  her  joining  the  Church,  she 
presented  her  Beven  children  at  the  font,  with  herself, 
and  we  were  all  dedicated  to  God  at  the  same  time 
and  place.  It  was  a  solemn  and  interesting  scene ;  one 
never  before,  and  probably  never  since,  witnessed  in 
that  church,  if  in  any  Other. 

On  returning  to  Danbury  J  became  an  apprentice 
to  my  mother's  brother.  Ezra  Starr  Cozier,  in  the  shoe- 
making  business,  and  was  to  serve  five  years,  or  until 

1  was  eighteen  years  old.      I  had  naturally  a  mechanical 

genius,  and  could  soon  Irani  almost  any  trade,  and,  of 
course,  soon  made  proficiency  in  my  new.  employment. 

But  the  snares  of  vice  soon  encompassed  mc  in  its 
folds.      The  shop  in  which  we  wrought  belonged  to  my 

grandfather,  of  whom  I  have  already  Bpoken,  who,  at 
this  time,  was  air  open  and  avowed  skeptic.  My  uncle 
and  his  partner  professed  to  be  deists,  or  disciples  of 
Paine,  Palmer,  etc.  Yolney's  Ruins  was  a  textbook, 
and  Paine's  Age  of  Reason  was  their  book  of  books; 
and  the  shop  being  some  twenty  rods  from  the  main 
street,  and  out  of  Bight,  was  the  Sunda}'  resort  of  that 
class  to  read  that  kind  of  works,  and  comment  thereon, 
and  talk  politics. 

In  the  Spring  of  1S07,  a  year  after  my  father's  death, 
custom  removed  the  weeds  of  mourning  and  allowed 
of  dancing  and  such  kind  of  amusements,  and  being 
invited.  I  went  Avith  the  multitude  to  do  evil,  and  my 


38  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

religious  purposes  were  deferred  to  a  more  convenient 
season.  I  intended,  however,  to  be  religious.  I  be- 
lieved, as  I  was  taught,  and  so  far  as  I  then  knew,  all 
Christians  believed  in  Calvinism,  or  election  and  repro- 
bation from  all  eternit3T,  and,  like  all  others  I  ever  met 
with,  who  believed  in  that  creed — unless  in  despair  and 
ready  to  commit  suicide — that  I  was  one  of  the  elect, 
and  should  be  brought  into  the  fold  of  Christ  "in  the 
day  of  his  irresistible  power."  Upon  this  hope  I  rested, 
giving  myself  no  further  concern  than  to  wait  God's 
time,  when  the  unchangeable  decree  would  assuredly 
bring  me  in. 

In  my  new  situation  I  was  placed  in  a  new  relation 
to  the  wTorld,  and  new  scenes  were  spread  before  me. 
Politics  ran  high.  Newspapers  fell  into  my  hands,  and 
my  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  world  was  greatly 
excited.  My  father  was  a  Democrat  or  Eepublican,  the 
terms  then  being  synonymous,  in  opposition  to  Fed- 
eralist ;  and,  in  1801,  when  Mr.  Jefferson  took  his  seat  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  on  the  4th  of  March,  my 
father,  with  Samuel  and  William  Cook,  his  half  brothers, 
were  three  out  of  four  men  who  only  dared  turn 
out  and  fire  a  national  salute  in  Danbury,  such  was  the 
overwhelming  influence  of  Federalism,  in  a  town  of  five 
or  six  hundred  voters.  On  asking  for  the  artillery  the 
captain  said  no,  but  held  the  key  of  the  gun-house  in 
his  hand  behind  him,  and  turned  his  back  to  them. 
They  took  the  hint  and  the  key.  Some  merchants  and 
others  who  dared  not  be  seen  in  the  affair,  but  secretly 
favoring  the  movement,  placed  powder  in  their  way, 
and  the  four  patriots  fired  the  salute. 

The  state  of  feeling  may  be  guessed  at  from  a  few 
incidents.  It  was  said  that  if  Jefferson  was  elected, 
the  Bibles  would  be  burned  and  the  meeting-houses 
pulled  down,  and  the  Christian  religion  be  banished 
from  the  country ;  and,  of  course,  the  men  who  could 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  39 

rejoice  at  the  inauguration  of  such  a  man  and  such  a 
state  of  things,  could  be  but  little,  if  any  thing,  less 
than  an  enemy  to  both  God  and  man. 

In  one  instance  a  Federalist  was  in  a  neighbor's 
house,  berating  the  Democrats,  and  repeating  the 
dreadful  stories  in  circulation  about  Jeiferson,  the 
Bible,  Churches,  etc.,  till  the  people  of  the  house  won- 
dered what  kind  of  a  savage  beast  of  prey  a  Democrat 
must  be.  The  man  happening  to  look  out  of  the  win- 
dow, saw  one  going  by,  and  exclaimed,  ''There  goes 
one  of  the  cursed  Democrats  now  !"  At  this  the  whole 
•family  rose  at  once,  and  rushed  to  the  window  to  see; 
when,  lo  and  behold  !  it  was  one  of  their  most  inof- 
fensive neighbors. 

Another  Federalist,  hearing  the  minister  of  the 
parish,  while  praying  for  all  the  world,  "and  the  rest 
of  mankind,"  in  one  of  those  almost  interminably  long 
prayers  of  that  day.  ask  God  to  "  bless  his  servant,  the 
President  of  these  United  States,"  left  the  house  in  dis- 
gust, because  the  minister  had  called  Jeiferson  a  serv- 
ant of  God.  Under  my  surroundings,  it  would  be  very 
natural  for  me  to  be  a  Republican  of  the  Jeftersonian 
school,  and  politics  be  an  absorbing  study. 

At  this  period  Aaron  Burr  was  making  some  trea- 
sonable efforts  on  the  Ohio  and  Mississippi  Kivers,  aim- 
ing, it  was  said,  at  the  severance  of  Louisiana  from  the 
Union,  and  Bonaparte  was  sweeping  over  Europe  with 
his  triumphant  hosts.  To  be  posted  in  all  these  move- 
ments at  home  and  abroad,  when  I  read  of  them  in  the 
papers,  I  referred  to  the  maps,  and  Morse's  Gazetteer, 
then  the  best  geography  extant,  by  which  means  I 
learned  more  of  geography  than  by  its  ordinary  study 
at  school.  This  reading  was  of  great  use  to  me  in  a 
literary  point  of  view.  Those  Gazetteers,  which  then 
belonged  to  my  grandfather,  are  now  (1872)  in  my 
possession,  being  eighty  years  old. 


40  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Koger  Sherman,  the  shoe-maker,  statesman,  and  the 
pride  of  the  State,  had  been  a  resident  of  Newtown,  ten 
miles  distant;  and  he  and  Franklin,  the  printer  states- 
man, were  subjects  of  study  and  conversation.  These, 
with  other  great  men  who  had  been  mechanics,  and 
rose  to  distinction,  self-taught,  excited  my  ambition  to 
leave  the  world  better  for  my  having  been  in  it.  This 
idea  became,  and  has  continued  to  be,  a  maxim,  motto, 
and  object  of  my  life;  and,  like  Omar,  with  his  head 
leaning  against  a  pine-tree,  I  formed  the  project  and 
plan  of  my  future  life.  It  Avas  to  study  law,  and,  as  soon 
as  possible,  enter  upon  its  practice,  and  if  a  war  oc- 
curred, which  then  looked  probable,  with  England,  to 
enter  the  army,  and  either  rise  to  distinction  or  fall  in 
the  attempt. 

In  the  mean  time  the  Methodists  had  found  their 
way  into  Danbury,  and  had  preaching  in  the  up-town 
school-house,  the  first  school-house  I  ever  entered. 
Once  in  two  weeks  the  circuit  preachers  would  be  there, 
and  on  the  intervening  Sabbath  a  local  preacher,  of  my 
own  name,  but  no  relation  near  enough  to  claim,  occu- 
pied the  desk.  This  being  nearer  at  hand  than  the 
Congregational  meeting-house,  and,  withal,  the  services 
being  conducted  with  more  life  and  animation  than  in 
the  other,  I  frequently  attended,  was  edified,  and  often 
deeply  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  religion.  At 
night  meeting,  especially,  when  others  could  not  notice 
me,  my  feelings  were  often  so  wrought  upon  that  I 
would  get  half  down  on  my  knees,  in  time  of  the  clos- 
ing prayer.  But  on  these  occasions,  such  were  the  fas- 
cinations of  young  company  on  me,  that  on  leaving  the 
house  I  would  fall  into  that  current,  and  forget  my 
serious  thoughts. 

From  a  child  I  had  been  taught  to  dance,  and  that 
it  was  an  innocent  and  healthful  exercise,  of  which  I  was 
passionately  fond,  and  to  accomplish  myself  in  the  art, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  41 

I  attended  a  dancing- school  to  learn  "to  serve  the  devil 
by  rule."  The  school  was  composed  entirely  of  young 
men;  but  occasionally  the  young,  and  some  married, 
ladies  would  visit  the  school  to  see  what  proficiency  the 
bo}rs  made.  On  one  such  occasion  we  resolved  to  dis- 
pense with  the  usual  drill,  and  have  the  ladies  on  the 
floor  in  regular  reels,  and  it  fell  to  me  to  dance  with 
a  cousin,  who  was  a  member  of  the  Congregational 
Church.  AVhile  on  the  floor  it  occurred  to  mo  that  she 
was  a  professor  of  religion,  and,  feeling  conscience- 
smitten  on  account  of  my  own  sin,  I  thought  it  was  far 
worse  for  her:  and  raeh  were  my  feelings  of  horror  at 
the  event,  if  I  could  have  got  off  the  floor  decently,  I 
should  have  left  it  at  once;  but,  as  it  was,  I  determined 
never  to  dance  with  a  professor  of  religion  again,  and 
never  did.  knowingly. 

After  tbi  s  of  miscalled  innocent  amusement, 

I  never  rested  well  at  night.  I  was  often  afraid  to 
sleep,  lest  I  should  wake  up  in  hell  before  morning. 
Under  such  feelings,  I  often  resolved  to  quit  all  rash 
practices,  but  the  charm  of  young  company  irai 
great  on  me,  that  all  my  good  purposes  failed  under  its 
influence. 

In  my  sober  and  reflective  moments,  when  at  my 
work,  my  convictions  of  sin  were  so  great  and  strong, 
that  I  earnestly  wished  myself  out  of  this  youthful 
charm  ;  and  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  I  never  could 
obtain  religion  while  within  its  influences,  and  resolved 
on  breaking  it  off  as  soon  as  possible,  by  a  change  of 
resilience;  but,  being  an  apprentice,  with  two  or  three 
years  yet  to  serve,  I  knew  not  how  to  effect  it.  in 
these  sober  hours  it  frequently  occurred  to  me  that  I 
should  yet  be  a  Methodist,  notwithstanding  my  preju- 
dices, and  Calvinistic  notions;  but  how,  when,  or 
where,  was  all  in  the  future,  if  it  ever  should  OCCnr. 

Within  the  time  of  which  I  am  now  speaking,  the 
4 


42  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

young  men  with  whom  I  associated  commenced  play- 
ing at  cards;  but,  having  two  uncles  ruined  by  that 
practice,  I  resolved  not  to  learn  how,  and  never  did. 
One  of  my  uncles  offered  to  teach  me,  but  I  refused, 
and  promptly  told  him  that  it  had  been  his  ruin,  and  I 
would  not  follow  his  bad  example.  At  this  unexpected 
rebuke  he  turned  pale,  acknowledged  the  truth  of  what 
I  said,  and  commended  me  for  my  purpose;  and  now  it 
is  a  source  of  gratification  to  me  to  reflect  that  I  never 
knew  the  use  of  any  gambling  device,  and  never  gam- 
bled in  any  way,  shape,  or  form,  except  playing  pins  on 
a  hat,  when  quite  small ;  and  I  never  made  but  one  bet 
in  my  life,  and  that  was  not  intended,  but  by  accident, 
when  but  twelve  years  of  age,  and  though  I  won,  it  did 
me  no  good. 

My  young  friends  said  that  they  would  never  gam- 
ble;  they  only  played  for  amusement.  "But,"  said  I, 
"  no  one  ever  became  a  gambler  who  did  not  first  learn 
to  play  for  amusement;"  and  I  would  never  expose 
myself  to  the  temptation.  But  they  soon  became  such 
adepts  at  it  that  they  must  try  their  skill,  first  for  some- 
thing to  drink,  and  then  for  small  sums,  and  finally  for 
all  they  could  get,  till  some  of  them  were  utterly  ruined 
in  soul  and  body,  while  all  of  them  suffered,  more  or 
less,  in  both  purse  and  morals. 

One  circumstance  that  favored  the  introduction  of 
Methodism  into  this,  and  many  other  towns  in  the 
State,  was  their  political  views.  In  the  Eevelations  we 
are  told  that  when  the  great  dragon  poured  out  a  flood  of 
persecution  against  the  woman  and  her  man-child,  that 
the  earth  opened  its  mouth  and  swallowed  or  absorbed 
the  flood,  and  saved  the  woman  and  her  child.  The 
earth  here  means  the  men  of  the  world  who  act  from 
worldly  policy,  and  who  favor  or  protect  the  Church, 
not  from  any  particular  love  for  it,  or  for  religion,  but 
from  motives  of  self-interest  or  policy. 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  43 

The  great  mass,  if  not  the  entire,  of  the  Methodist 
Church  and  her  adherents  were  Republicans,  and  so 
were  the  entire  infidel  portion  of  the  community, 
though  these  two  classes  were  antipodes  in  all  things 
pertaining  to  religion;  yet,  as  they  voted  the  same 
ticket,  the  infidel  relaxed  his  opposition,  and  would  oc- 
casionally go  and  hear  them  ;  and,  on  hearing  the  dog- 
mas of  Calvinism  exposed  as  false  doctrine,  and  not  in 
accordance  with  the  Bible,  the  infidel  opened  his  eyes 
and  ears  with  astonishment,  and  said,  "If  the  Method- 
ist views  of  the  Bible  are  true,  we  have  no  objection 
to  it."  They  would  protect  and  defend,  and  even  con- 
tribute to  the  support  of  the  Methodist  ministry,  and 
occasionall}-  hear  them,  from  motives  of  policy,  because 
every  convert  to  Methodism,  in  those  times,  became  a 
Republican,  if  he  was  not  one  before. 

On  the  other  hand,  Calvinism  and  Federalism  were 
yoked  together,  and  the  dominant  isms  of  the  State, 
and  many,  supposing  that  Calvinism  was  a  Bible  doc- 
trine, rejected  both  ;  but,  on  learning  the  truth  in  the 
matter,  they  not  only  dropped  their  opposition  to  the 
Bible,  but  became  converted  to  God,  in  many  instances. 

As  I  have  before  stated,  I  could  sec  no  chance  for 
saving  my  soul  without  a  change  of  residence — the  en- 
chantment of  young  company  had  such  a  control  over 
me.  I  contemplated  a  removal  to  Ohio,  to  an  uncle 
then  residing  in  Cincinnati,  and  promised  the  Lord 
that  if  I  ever  got  away  from  the  enchantment  or  incu- 
bus thus  hanging  upon  me,  I  would  seek  religion ;  but, 
being  an  apprentice,  though  not  indentured  but  by 
simple  agreement  of  my  mother,  I  felt  a  sense  of  honor 
binding  me  to  fulfill  the  contract,  and  howT  to  effect  a 
removal  was  in  the  dark. 

But,  in  the  Fall  of  1808,  an  incident  occurred  which 
I  deemed  sufficient  to  justify  my  leaving  my  uncle,  to 
whom  I  had  felt  thus  bound,  and  go  to  the  other  uncle 


44  A    WESTERN    PJONEER. 

in  Ohio.  At  the  September  training,  the  company  had 
grounded  their  arms  for  dinner,  and  left  a  boy  about 
my  own  age  to  guard  them  with  a  pontoon  ;  and  he, 
feeling  rather  large  from  his  high  promotion,  without 
any  just  cause  or  provocation,  attempted  to  thrust  his 
weapon  through  my  foot  as  I  stood  near  a  line  drawn 
round  the  guns.  For  this  insult  I  flogged  the  fellow 
after  he  was  released  from  his  high  command;  and  my 
uncle,  being  an  officer  of  the  company,  took  sides  with 
the  bo}T,  and  struck  me.  Upon  this  I  determined  to 
leave  him  at  the  first  opportunity. 

Soon  after  this  I  was  out  for  an  evening  stroll,  with 
several  others,  when  accident  rather  than  design  brought 
us  in  front  of  a  house  of  ill-fame,  where  we  saw  a  man 
of  a  respectable  family,  and  seventy  years  of  age,  in 
company  with  one  of  the  inmates.  Simultaneously, 
and  without  consultation,  our  indignation  rose,  and  we 
stormed  the  house  with  a  view  to  drive  him  away.  In 
throwing  stones  at  a  long  distance  at  the  door,  the  one 
which  I  threw  happened  to  hit  the  window,  so  as  to 
take  out  the  sash  and  four  lights  of  glass,  which  fell 
into  the  room.  The  old  man,  fearing  something  worse, 
soon  moved  off  toward  home. 

As  soon  as  the  excitement  was  off,  we  began  to  re- 
flect on  what  we  had  done,  and  how  far  we  were  ex- 
posed to  the  operation  of  the  law.  The  laws  of  Con- 
necticut were  rigid  in  such  cases,  and  the  "night  law," 
so-called,  requiring  an  accused  or  suspected  person,  if 
out  from  home  after  nine  o'clock  at  night,  to  prove 
himself  clear,  we  all  took  good  care  to  be  at  home  and 
in  bed  before  that  hour,  and  doing  it  so  that  the  family 
should  know  it,  and  could  witness  to  the  fact  if  neces- 
sary. 

The  next  day  the  old  man  and  his  dissolute  com- 
panion were  busj-  in  the  pursuit  of  law,  and  we  found 
that  we  were  all  identified,  and  were  to  be  taken  for  a 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  45 

riot,  and  not  under  the  night  law,  and  I  expected  the 
constable  after  me  every  moment.  At  this  juncture  a 
fellow-apprentice  said  to  me,  "You  have  been  talking 
of  running  away,  and  now  is  the  time  to  go."  "I 
would,"  said  I,  "  if  I  had  any  money."  "We'll  help 
you,"  was  the  reply.  And  those  who  were  involved  in 
the  affair  made  up  a  few  shillings,  and  that  night  I 
took  French  leave.  It  was  agreed  among  us  that  if 
the  rest  of  the  company  were  arrested  they  should  lay 
it  all  on  me,  and  let  them  catch  me  if  they  could.  My 
design  was  to  go  to  Ohio,  stud}'  law,  and  rise,  if  possi- 
ble, with  the  young  State  to  whatever  distinction  merit 
might  entitle  me  to. 

The  third  dajT  brought  me  to  New  Brunswick.  N. 
J.,  where  I  wrought  at  my  trade  two  Weeks.  Thence 
I  went  to  Trenton,  where  I  stayed  one  week  ;  and  then 
on  by  Philadelphia  to  Carlisle,  Peon.,  two  hundred 
and  seventy  miles  from  home,  where  I  ventured  to 
make  another  Btop.  Here  I  happened  to  get  into  a 
Methodist  family,  and,  out  of  respect  for  them,  went  to 
their  meeting,  where,  November  27,  180S,  I  heard  Rev. 
Jacob  Grnber  preach,     lie  t<>ld  me  of  all  my  sins,  and 

he  was  so  clear  and  definite  in  it  that  if  it  had  been 
possible  for  any  one  in  the  town  to  have  known  me,  I 
should  have  taken  it  for  granted  that  some  one  had 
told  him  all  about  me.  But,  having  been  but  a  week 
in  the  place,  and  formed  only  a  slight  acquaintance  ont 
of  the  shop,  and  having  kept  myself  in  good  order 
there,  I  knew  that  no  one  could  have  told  him.  But, 
as  it  was.  and  he  telling  me  of  some  sins  which  I  did 
not  consider  to  be  such  at  the  time  of  committing 
them.  I  concluded  that  the  Divine  Spirit  must  have 
led  him  to  discourse  thus,  and  took  it  as  a  warning 
from  God. 

The  Spirit  of  God  now  said  to  me,  or  impressed  my 
mind  as  plainly  and  distinctly  as  ever  a  voice  from  oth- 


46  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

ers  did,  "  Now  you  are  away  from  }^our  youthful  com- 
panions, who  so  hindered  you  from  seeking  religion, 
and  you  have  not  yet  formed  new  acquaintances  to 
keep  3rou  back,  and  3-011  have  repeatedly  promised  God 
that  when  you  got  away  from  that  enchantment  you 
would  seek  religion;  and  this  is  the  last  call  you  will 
have.  If  you  refuse  to  obey  this,  you  will  never  have 
another." 

This  was  a  solemn  time;  and  I  pondered  over  the 
matter  for  a  week,  querying  whether  I  should  then  turn 
to  God,  or  risk  it  a  little  longer;  and  every  time  I  thus 
queried  the  same  whisper  or  impression  was  made  upon 
my  mind. 

On  the  ensuing  Sabbath  morning  I  started  to  meet 
some  slight  acquaintances,  with  whom  I  had  agreed  on 
that  day  to  roam  over  the  country  at  sight-seeing.  On 
my  way  to  the  appointed  rendezvous,  the  same  whisper 
in  my  ear,  but  now  sounding  more  like  thunder,  to  my 
mind,  said,  "  This  is  the  last  call  you  will  have  !  this  is  the 
last  call  you  will  have !"  At  this  I  stopped  on  the  side- 
walk, hesitating  whether  to  turn  then  or  risk  the  matter 
longer,  when  the  warning  was  repeated,  with  allusions 
to  my  former  promises  to  the  Lord,  and  I  wheeled  on 
my  heels,  and  returned  to  my  lodgings,  and  thence  to 
the  house  of  God,  determined  to  seek  the  salvation  of 
my  soul.  If  I  had  determined  otherwise,  and  gone  an- 
other step,  I  have  no  doubt  the  good  Spirit  would  have 
left  me,  never  to  return,  and  I  should  long  since  have 
been  dead  and  damned.  But  when  I  turned  and  fixed 
my  mind  to  seek  God,  it  was  with  the  indomitable  hold- 
on-a-tiveness  of  my  nature,  and  for  life.  And  from 
that  determination,  by  the  help  of  God,  I  have  never 
swerved,  to  tho  time  of  this  writing,  and  trust  I  never 
shall. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  47 


CHAPTER  III. 

I  WAS  now  fairly  awakened  to  a  sense  of  my  sinful 
state,  both  by  nature  and  practice;  and,  having 
started  in  the  good  way,  my  inquiry  was,  How  shall  or 
can  I  obtain  religion?  I  knew  I  must  pray,  but  was 
at  a  loss  as  to  how,  when,  or  where  to  do  it.  I  believed 
that  God  would  have  mercy  and  pardon  me,  or  he 
would  not  thus  have  called  me,  and  was,  therefore, 
saved  from  despair,  which,  in  those  days,  was  quite 
common  with  awakened  sinners.  In  accordance  with 
the  impulse  of  my  nature  I  bent  all  my  energies  to  the 
use  of  such  means  as  I  had  knowledge  of  tending  to 
this  object. 

In  the  shop  with  me  was  a  backslidon  Methodist, 
who  yet  retained  some  of  the  forms  of  religion,  but 
acknowledged  that  he  had  lost  the  power  of  it.  Of  him 
I  inquired  what  to  do  to  get  religion.  He  said  if  I 
would  pray  three  times  a  day,  in  secret,  for  three 
months,  if  I  did  not  obtain  it,  he  would  give  me  ten 
dollars.  Having  fixed  1113'  purpose  to  seek  the  Lord,  I 
did  not  try  to  hide  my  convictions;  I  had  fully  sur- 
rendered to  God,  and  was  willing  to  be  saved  in  his 
way,  and  in  his  time,  and  I  replied :  "  I  do  not  care  for 
your  ten  dollars;  but,  if  I  can  get  religion  by  praying 
three  times  a  day,  I  will  do  it." 

1  had  not  yet  retired  to  a  secret  place  for  prayer 
but,  when  I  lay  down  at  night  and  rose  in  the  morning 
I  would  pray  mentally,  or  think  over  a  prayer  for 
mercy  and  forgiveness;  but  on  his  suggestion  I  sought 
a  place  for  retirement,  and  found  one  in  a  loft  among 
some  empty  flour  barrels.  The  first  thing  after  rising 
in  the  morning,  at  twilight  in  the  evening,  and  before 


48  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

retiring  to  rest  at  night,  I  repaired  to  my  closet  and 
prayed. 

I  was  naturally  of  a  lively  and  jocose  turn,  and,  in 
the  shop,  I  would  indulge  in  light  conversation,  crack 
jokes,  tell  yarns,  debate  questions,  and  endeavor  to 
play  my  part  in  the  good-humor  of  the  company;  but 
this  I  found  to  be  injurious  to  devotional  feelings;  for, 
after  such  indulgence,  on  retiring  for  prayer,  I  found 
great  deadness  of  feeling,  and  my  prayers  seemed  to  be 
of  no  use;  they  did  not  rise  higher  than  my  head. 
Discovering  this,  I  resolved  to  break  off  from  it,  but, 
before  I  was  aware  of  it,  I  would  catch  the  spirit  of 
the  company  I  might  be  in,  and  launch  out  in  this 
playful  pastime;  and  when  I  did  so,  on  retiring  to 
pray,  I  felt  barren  in  mind.  To  remedy  this  I  would 
sit  down,  or  "kneel,  and  meditate  on  my  sins  and  sin- 
fulness, and  repent,  which  led  to  some  tenderness  of 
feeling,  and  then  my  prayers  seemed  to  reach  the  mer- 
cy-seat, and  be  heard  by  the  Father  of  Mercies. 

One  thing  struck  me  with  surprise,  not  having  ex- 
pected it.  Every  sin  I  ever  committed,  and  some  that 
I  did  not  think  were  sins  at  the  time,  passed  in  review, 
one  after  another,  before  my  mind.  Of  and  for  these 
I  repented,  and  resolved  never  to  do  so  again,  if  God 
would  help  me,  and  of  this  I  had  no  doubt.  This  re- 
view came  down  to  the  last  sin  I  committed  before  I 
turned  to  God.  My  sins  felt  like  mountains  on  my 
mind,  and  it  often  seemed  to  me  that  the  weight  resting 
upon  me  must  sink  me  into  the  earth. 

While  in  this  state  of  mind  I  sought  an  interview 
with  a  class-leader,  who  was  converted  in  Ireland  under 
the  preaching  of  John  AVesley.  He  told  me  I  must 
pray  in  faith;  I  must  expect  the  blessing,  and  look  for 
it,  for  God  had  promised  it.  He  quoted  several  passages 
of  Scripture  tending  to  this  point;  but  these  words  of 
our  Lord,  "  Whatsoever  ye  ask  of  the  Father  in  my 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  49 

name,  believing,  that  shall  ya  receive,"  struck  my  mind 
with  the  greatest  force,  and  made  the  strongest  im- 
pression. He  also  quoted:  "The  broken  in  heart,  and 
the  contrite  in  spirit,  he  will  in  no  wise  turn  away." 

With  this  instruction  I  went  home  meditating  upon 
faith:  what  is  it?  how  obtain  it?  The  dregs  of  Cal- 
vinism still  hung  on  to  my  mind  in  some  things.  I 
thought  that  I  had  been  such  a  great  sinner  I  must 
be  a  long  time  in  repenting  of  my  sins;  as  if  there 
was  a  kind  of  merit  in  so  doing;  or  as  if  repentance 
would  in  some  way — I  did  not  know  how — atone,  in 
part  at  least,  for  my  misdoings.  I  exjjected  that  when 
I  had  sufficiently  repented,  God  would  forgive  me  for 
the  sake  of  Christ.  The  ideas  of  the  atonement  I  had 
imbibed  from  the  teachings  of  Calvinism  were  rather 
vague  and  indefinite.  Though  they  taught  justification 
by  faith  alone,  }'et  they  discarded  the  idea  of  short 
repentance  and  rapid  conversion.  A  man,  in  their 
view,  must  be  long  enough  in  repenting,  or  in  penance, 
to  satisfy,  in  part  at  least,  the  demands  of  justice. 
From  the  want  of  better  light  on  the  subject,  I  could 
not  discriminate  between  the  merits  of  Christ  alone 
and  attaching  something  virtuous  and  meritorious  to 
penitence. 

The  difficulty  was  to  bring  my  mind  to  rely  wholly 
and  solely  on  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  expect  the 
blessing  of  pardon  and  peace  for  his  sake  alone,  irre- 
spective of  my  sorrow  for  my  past  sins.  I  did  not 
know  then,  nor  understand  that  repentance  was  only 
humbling  the  mind  and  preparing  it  to  appreciate  the 
pardon  when  it  did  come.  Unless  we  feel  our  sickness 
we  can  not  appreciate  the  remedy,  nor  the  physician 
who  provides  and  administers  it. 

But  I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  faith  was  to  rely 
entirely  upon  God,  upon  his  word,  and  to  expect  the 
blessing,  because  he  had  promised  it;  and,  accordingly, 


50  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  next  morning  I  asked  God  to  bless  me  that  day. 
In  this  there  was  an  error.  I  should  have  asked  for 
the  blessing  then,  at  that  moment;  but  I  limited  the 
request  to  that  day.  But  the  blessing  did  not  come 
that  day.  But  I  had  determined  that  if  I  went  to  hell 
I  would  go  there  praying;  so  I  made  the  same  prayer 
the  next  morning,  and  tried  as  hard  as  I  could  to  look 
for  and  expect  it.     This  was  February  3,  1809. 

That  night  I  went  to  prayer-meeting  in  the  church, 
the  old  stone  building,  out  in  one  corner  of  the  town  of 
Carlisle,  Pennsylvania,  long  since  torn  down,  and  while 
standing  and  singing  the  hymn  beginning  writh — 

"  My  God,  the  spring  of  all  my  joys, 
The  life  of  ray  delights," 

suddenly  the  burden  of  guilt,  which  for  two  months 
and  seven  days  had  borne  me  down  like  a  cart  beneath 
its  sheaves,  fell  off  my  mind,  and  it  seemed  as  if  I 
bounded  two  feet  high,  like  a  spring  released  from  the 
weight  that  held  it  down.  1  know  I  did  not  so  bound; 
but  such  was  the  sudden  and  instantaneous  change  in 
my  feelings  that  it  seemed  so. 

At  the  same  moment  the  same  spirit  that  had  whis- 
pered in  my  ear,  warning  me  of  my  danger  if  I 
continued  in  sin,  now  said  to  me,  "You  are  con- 
verted:" And,  notwithstanding  I  had  prayed  for  the 
blessing  to  be  given  me  that  day,  yet,  such  was  my 
sense  of  my  deep  sinfulness,  I  thought  it  could  not  be 
that  such  a  sinner  as  I  had  been  should  receive  pardon 
so  soon.  But  the  whisper  was  repeated,  "You  are 
converted."  "Well,"  said  I,  "Lord,  if  it  is  so,  give  me 
the  evidence  of  it,"  and  instantly  a  stream  of  peace 
and  love,  apparently  as  large  as  a  pen-holder,  seemed 
to  come  from  heaven  down  into  my  poor  heart,  and  to 
fill  it  up  as  such  a  stream  of  water  would  a  vessel. 
It  rose  higher  and  higher,   till  my   soul   was  full  of 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  51 

peace  and  joy.  As  I  went  home  from  the  meeting  I 
felt  as  light  as  a  feather,  and  seemed  to  move  through 
4;he  air;  nor  could  I  realize  then,  nor  since,  that  gravi- 
tation kept  me  to  the  ground  as  firmly  as  ever.  When 
I  reached  home  I  could  not  sit  still,  but  kept  moving 
about.  My  shop-mates  noticed  the  change,  and  seemed 
to  understand  it,  especially  the  backslider.  This  hap- 
pened six  daj's  before  I  was  sixteen  years  of  age,  and 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit  I  then  received  I  have  never 
lost,  but  retain  it  to  this  day. 

This  change  occurred  differently  from  what  I  had 
anticipated;  but  every  thing  about  it  bore  the  impress 
of  the  divine  influence  so  clearly,  that  to  me,  at  least, 
it  was  a  genuine  and  unmistakable  revelation  from 
God;  his  Spirit  bearing  witness  with  mine  that  I  was  a 
child  of  his.  And,  in  all  the  conversions  that  I  have 
since  witnessed,  amounting  to  thousands,  I  have  noticed 
this  same  peculiarity.  God  does  his  own  work,  in  his 
own  way,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  the  recipient  can 
clearly  see  the  finger  of  God  in  it,  and  as  clearly  that 
it  was  not  himself  that  did  it,  but  God.  I  have  never 
seen  a  person  yet  who  was  converted  just  as  he  antici- 
pated;  nor  have  I  ever  seen  or  known  two  persons  to 
be  converted  exactl}'  alike  in  every  particular.  The 
work  of  regeneration,  like  generation,  has  such  an  infi- 
nite variety  in  it,  that  the  infinity  of  its  Author  is 
visible;  and  yet  there  is  such  a  general  resemblance, 
as  in  the  human  race,  as  to  show  clearly  the  species. 
Many  who  have  experienced  the  pardon  of  sin  have 
doubted  it,  because  it  did  not  occur,  or  was  not  accom- 
panied, with  the  same  incidents  or  circumstances  that 
others  experienced-  whom  they  had  seen,  or  of  whom 
they  had  heard.  But  such  variances  are  no  evidence 
that  the  work  is  not  of  God.  If  we  have  the  essentials, 
a  removal  of  guilt  and  peace  of  mind,  accompanied  by 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit,  it  is  sufficient;  we  need  not, 


52  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

we  should  not,  all  look  for  every  minute  particular  to 
be  alike,  any  more  than  for  every  human  being  to  look 
as  if  cast  in  the  same  mold,  in  order  to  their  being  of 
the  same  species. 

I  had  but  an  imperfect  idea  of  the  warfare  of  the 
Christian's  life,  or  of  the  trials  of  his  faith  ;  but  I  soon 
began  to  take  lessons  in  it  from  experience.  Some  two 
weeks  passed  in  unalloyed  peace  and  comfort  of  soul, 
when  temptations  to  unbelief  were  thrust  upon  my 
mind,  relief  from  which  I  found  in  prayer  and  reflect- 
ing upon  what  I  knew  that  God  had  done  for  me,  of 
which  I  could  no  more  doubt  than  of  my  existence. 

In  about  a  month  I  had  a  singular  dream,  warning 
me  of  approaching  danger ;  and,  however  people  may 
scoff  at  the  idea,  my  experience  has  confirmed  me  in 
the  belief  that  God,  in  mercy  to  us,  does  often  warn 
of  dangers,  or  of  goodness  that  is  approaching.  The 
philosophy  of  Solomon,  that  dreams  come  from  the 
multitude  of  thoughts  which  occupy  the  mind,  is  ad- 
mitted as  a  common  occurrence ;  but  this  does  not 
exclude  God  from  the  control  of  our  thoughts  when 
asleep,  when  he  sees  fit  to  do  so.  Even  the  devil  may 
do  this  at  times.  We  have  ample  proof  of  this  in 
dreams  of  which,  or  of  any  thing  like  them,  we  had  no 
thoughts  beforehand. 

In  my  dream  I  was  traveling  over  ground,  the  like 
of  which  I  never  saw  before  or  since.  In  crossing  a 
plain,  or  meadow,  I  saw  numerous  mats  of  grass,  under 
which  rattlesnakes  were  coiled  in  great  numbers,  and 
1  had  to  use  great  caution  to  avoid  being  bitten  by 
them  as  they  thrust  out  their  heads  at  me.  At  length 
I  came  to  the  foot  of  a  high  and  steep  bill,  up  which 
my  path  led.  At  this  moment  the  scene  was  changed 
from  warm  weather  and  bare  ground  to  Winter,  with 
snow  about  two  feet  deep.  Just  before  me  was  a 
brother  of  the  Church  with  whom  I  was  acquainted, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  53 

who  made  a  path  in  the  snow  in  which  I  was  to  follow 
him;  but  suddenly,  as  I  had  ascended  about  two  hun- 
dred feet,  the  hill  became  so  steep  as  to  hang  over 
above  me.  My  friend  appeared  to  have  got  over  this 
overhanging  place,  and  was  going  out  of  my  sight, 
leaving  his  trail  in  the  snow  plainly  to  be  seen  ;  but  it 
seemed  to  be  impossible  for  me  to  follow  him. 

At  this  juncture  a  voice  from  the  plain  below  me 
called,  and  informed  me  of  a  road  that  went  round  the 
hill,  and  ascended  by  an  easier  grade,  and  advised  me 
to  descend  to  the  plain  and  take  the  easier  path.  But 
the  difficulty  now  was  to  descend  without  falling;  but 
concluding  to  try  it,  and  to  guard  against  slipping  down 
the  now  perpendicular  hill  too  fast,  I  took  hold  of  the 
top  of  a  white-oak-tree,  apparently  a  foot  and  a  half 
through  at  the  butt,  and  a  hundred  feet  long,  and 
shoved  it  down  before  me  in  the  snow,  the  spreading 
roots  of  which  grated  hard  upon  the  ground  and  im- 
peded the  descent.  But  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  the  roots 
of  the  tree  struck  a  glade  of  ice  and  flew  out,  and  I  fell 
on  the  ice  and  frozen  ground  with  such  violence  as  to 
kill  me.  I  seemed  to  stand  by  and  look  upon  my  dead 
bod}r  for  a  while,  when  my  eldest  sister,  afterward  tho 
wife  of  Rev.  B.  Weed,  and  myself  took  up  the  corpse 
and  laid  it  in  a  coffin,  and  then  placed  the  coffin  on  a 
wagon,  when  it  seemed  to  be  my  father. 

I  told  the  dream  to  the  Irish  class-leader,  who  said, 
with  great  concern,  "  You  are  going  to  have  some 
severe  trials,  and  are  in  great  danger  of  falling  from 
your  present  state  in  grace;  you  must  watch  and 
pray." 

Some  time  previous  to  my  conversion,  I  had  an 
argument  with  my  backslidden  shop-mate  on  the  pos- 
sibility of  falling  from  grace,  I  arguing  as  a  Calvin ist 
and  he  as  a  Methodist.  Among  other  arguments  he 
used  was  a  story  of  a  young  man  who  had  embraced 


54  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

religion,  of  whom  it  was  prophesied  by  his  old  asso- 
ciates, that  he  would  n't  stand  it  long,  but  would  soon 
be  back  with  them  in  sin,  as  bad  as  ever.  This  so 
affected  him,  and  fearing  that  it  might  be  so,  he  went 
before  God,  and  prayed  that  if  it  would  be  so,  if  he 
lived,  that  he  might  then  die,  when  he  felt  that  it 
would  be  well  with  him,  and  he  immediately  died. 

I  know  nothing  of  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the  story; 
but  at  this  time,  and  in  connection  with  my  dream,  it 
made  a  deep  impression  upon  my  mind,  and  I  feared 
the  consequences ;  and  what  gave  it  the  more  weight 
with  me  at  that  time,  was  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
dregs  of  Calvinism  were  yet  hanging  about  me.  I 
could  not  then  discriminate  between  foreknowledge  and 
fore-ordination  ;  or,  at  least,  if  God  foresaw  a  thing,  it 
must  be  because  it  would  be  so.  I  did  not  then,  as  now, 
understand  that  God  not  only  foresaw  what  would  be, 
but  what  might  be;  and  that  in  human  events,  condi- 
tions are  appended,  the  observance  or  non-observance 
of  which  would  entirely  change  the  thing.  It  would  be 
so  under  one  state  of  circumstances,  but  not  so  under  a 
different  state  of  the  case.  I  might,  and  probably 
should,  fall  and  die,  spiritually,  if  I  did  not  watch  and 
pray;  but  should  not  thus  fall  if  I  did  -watch  and  pray. 

But  not  then  so  understanding  the  matter,  I  thought 
if  God  foresaw  my  fall,  so  as  to  warn  me  of  it  in  a. 
dream,  it  was  because  it  would  be  so,  and  I  determined 
to  pray,  as  did  the  young  man,  and  told  the  leader  that 
I  would  rather  die  then  than  backslide.  I  did  not  de- 
clare to  him  my  design,  but  thought  if  I  should  be 
found  dead  in  my  closet,  he  might  infer  the  cause  of  it. 

In  this  state  of  mind,  and  under  these  feelings,  I 
wTent  home,  and  into  my  closet,  and  kneeled  down  by 
an  empty  flour-barrel,  laying  my  arms  across  the  top, 
which  was  headless,  and  then  and  there  prayed  ear- 
nestly, if  ever  I  did,  and  with  perfect  submission  to  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  55 

Divine  will,  that  if  he  foresaw  that  I  should  fall  from 
grace,  if  I  lived,  that  he  would  then  and  there  take  me 
to  himself,  when  I  felt  that  it  would  be  well  with  me; 
and  I  prayed  for  an  answer,  in  patriarchal  style,  and 
paused  to  receive  it.  I  felt  something  rising  in  me 
like  a  choice  to  live,  provided  J  should  not  backslide, 
but  a  preference  to  die  then  rather  than  to  fall.  While 
waiting  for  an  answer,  a  whisper,  as  loud  to  me  as  ordi- 
nary whispering  of  persons,  one  to  another,  came  into 
my  face,  as  from  the  inside  of  the  barrel,  "I  would 
rather  stay  here;"  and  immediately  followed,  in  the 
same  manner,  the  words,  "Stay  here,  and  preach  the 
Gospel!"  In  both  cases  I  felt  the  air  move  in  my  face, 
as  when  persons  have  spoken  to  me  in  close  proximity. 
I  remained  in  the  position  some  time,  wondering  if 
such  a  feeble  being  had  to  preach,  and  prayed,  if  it  was 
eo,  for  grace  to  help  me,  and  qualify  me  for  the  work. 
I  had  not  then,  and  never  have  sinee  had,  the  least  dis- 
position to  be  disobedient  to  this  heavenly  vision  ;  but 
felt  then,  as  I  have  ever  sinee,  that  my  whole  depend- 
ence for  this,  as  well  as  any  other  good  work,  was  in 
God.  Newr  till  now  had  the  thought  of  preaching  en- 
tered my  mind. 

I  rose  from  my  knees  very  happy,  and  w-ent  to  bed, 
pondering  in  my  mind  what  all  this  could  mean.  As 
1  awoke  in  the  morning  I  found  myself  lying,  flat  and 
square,  on  my  back,  with  my  head  stretched  back  over 
the  pillow,  and  every  particle  of  me,  inside  the  skin, 
seemed  to  be  on  fire,  and  I  seemed  to  be  so  full  of  it  as 
to  be  swollen  to  the  extent  of  my  outer  muscle.  This 
apparent,  or  real  fire,  gave  me  no  pain,  but  made  me 
as  happy  as  I  could  well  be  in  this  life,  and  the  first 
thought  I  had  was,  "I,  indeed,  baptize  you  with  water, 
but  there  cometh  one  after  me,  the  latchet  of  whose 
shoes  I  am  not  worthy  to  stoop  and  unloose.  lie  shall 
baptize  you  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  with  fire."     And 


56  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

it  struck  me  that  the  fire  that  was  in  me  was  that 
which  was  alluded  to  by  John  the  Baptist.  As  I 
moved  this  feeling  gradually  subsided,  till  I  felt  natural. 

This  was,  without  doubt,  out  of  the  ordinary  course 
of  experience  in  such  cases;  and  in  riper  years  I  would 
hardly  dare  to  offer  such  a  prayer;  but  then,  in  the 
child-like  simplicity,  and  honest  sincerity  of  my  soul,  I 
did  so,  and  the  result  was  as  above  related.  This  hap- 
pened on  the  night  of  the  6th,  and  morning  of  the  7th 
day  of  March,  1809,  in  Carlisle,  Penn.,  just  one  month 
and  three  days  after  my  conversion  to  God.  In  after 
life,  when  the  storms  and  tempests,  hereinafter  detailed, 
bore  down  upon  me,  about  preaching,  I  have  often 
thought  that  if  only  an  ordinary  call  to  the  ministry 
had  fallen  to  me,  I  should  have  yielded  to  despondency, 
and  given  it  up,  and  it  has  often  occurred  to  me  that 
God  gave  me  this  extraordinary  call  to  refer  to,  in  my 
extreme  trials,  as  a  sheet  anchor,  to  prevent  my  being 
driven  away  by  the  storms. 

The  trials  of  which  I  had  been  warned  soon  came 
upon  me.  First,  as  if  among  poisonous  reptiles,  I  was 
assailed  by  temptations.  My  mind  was  borne  down  by 
a  heavy  load,  an  indescribable  burden,  not  of  guilt, 
such  as  I  had  felt  before  being  pardoned,  but  a  weight, 
pressing  me  down,  and  away  from  God,  by  discourage- 
ments. In  my  mind  my  condition  was  pictured  as  if 
in  something  in  the  shape  of  a  hopper  of  a  mill,  having 
slid  through  the  opening,  and  hanging  by  my  arms.  1 
could  get  no  foot-hold  to  shove  myself  back,  nor  reach 
any  thing  with  my  hands  to  pull  myself  up.  My 
strength  was  failing,  and  my  arms  must  soon  give  way, 
when  I  must  slide  through,  and  fall,  I  knew  not  where 
In  this  extremity  I  lost  all  hope  of  saving  myself,  and 
threw  myself  upon  the  preserving  arm  of  God,  and  he 
brought  me  out  of  the  danger. 

Soon  after  this  the  attempt  was  made  to  induce  me 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  57 

to  go  round  the  hill,  or  attempt  to  get  to  heaven  in  an 
easier  way  than  by  the  Cross.  The  enemy  of  my  soul 
suggested  that,  by  trimming  between  the  world  and 
religion,  I  could  avoid  the  persecutions  then  liberally 
poured  upon  the  Methodists.  A  young  man  of  my  ac 
quaintance,  who*  belonged  to  the  Church,  was  pointed 
to  as  an  example  for  me  to  follow.  But,  thought  I,  in 
reply,  that  young  man  has  not  religion  enough  to  carry 
him  safe  through  the  vale  of  death.  I  never  heard  him, 
in  class,  speak  of  the  joys  of  sins  forgiven  ;  all  I  ever 
heard  him  say  was,  that  he  had  a  desire  for  religion, 
and  to  serve  God.  This  was  not  enough  for  me.  I 
wanted  religion  enough  to  make  me  happy  in  life,  and 
triumphant  in  death. 

"  That  is  true,"  said  Satan — by  suggestions  to  my 
mind  as  plain  and  distinct  as  if  by  an  audible  voice — 
"but  he  will  repent  on  his  death-bed  of  his  unfaithful- 
ness, and  obtain  forgiveness  from  God,  and  will  get  to 
heaven  ;  and  though  he  gets  but  just  inside  of  the  gate, 
while  more  faithful  ones  will  rise  higher,  and  get  nearer 
the  throne,  yet  he  will  have  had  the  respect  of  the 
world,  and  escaped  all  the  persecutions  and  trials  inci- 
dent to  faithful  ones."  And  he  pointed  my  thoughts  to 
a  young  lady  who  had  recently  died,  who  repented  on 
her  death-bed,  and  obtained  peace  with  God,  and  died 
happy,  through  the  prayers  and  advice  of  her  father's 
slave. 

"But,  suppose  I  should  die  suddenly,  or  by  some 
casualty,  and  have  no  time  to  repent  on  a  death-bed, 
then  I  should  be  lost." 

"That  might  be  so;  but  }~ou  should  hope  for  the 
best,  and  trust  in  the  mercy  of  God  for  it." 

The  scheme  looked  so  plausible  that  I  concluded  to 
try  it;  but  just  then  a  preacher  appeared  in  the  pulpit, 
rather  young,  but  pale  and  emaciated,  having  broken 
down  in  the  itinerancy,  in  five  years.     His  name  was 


58  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Steel.  His  text  was,  "  By  faith  Moses,  when  he  was 
come  to  years,  refused  to  be  called  the  son  of  Pharaoh's 
daughter,  choosing  rather  to  suffer  afflictions  with  the 
people  of  God,  than  to  enjoy  the  pleasures  of  sin  for  a 
season,  esteeming  the  reproach  of  Christ  greater  riches 
than  the  treasures  in  Egypt,  for  he  had  respect  unto 
tU,e  recompense  of  reward."  By  the  time  the  text  was 
read  I  was  pretty  well  cured:  and  the  discourse  effect- 
ually fixed  my  purpose  to  make  no  compromises  with 
the  devil,  let  come  what  would,  which  purpose  I  have 
kept,  by  the  grace  of  God,  to  this  day. 

Feeling  now  that  I  was  called  to  preach,  I  gave  up 
all  my  early  projects  for  the  law,  and  military  glory, 
and  devoted  my  studies  to  a  preparation  for  the  work 
before  me.  I  bought  a  Pocket  Bible,  and  commenced 
reading  it  by  course.  I  first  went  twice  through  the 
]STew  Testament,  and  then  began  with  the  Old,  and  have 
since  read  the  Holy  Book,  by  course,  probabl}7  fifty 
times,  besides  my  occasional,  and  family  and  Church 
readings.  In  my  early  readings  I  noted,  in  a  little 
book  kept  for  that  purpose,  all  the  passages  I  found 
bearing  upon  the  disputed  doctrines  of  the  day.  These 
texts  were  of  great  use  to  me  in  controversies,  in  after 
years,  and  saved  me  a  great  amount  of  labor  in  looking 
them  up. 

On  the  second  day  of  April,  1809,  I  joined  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  in  Carlisle,  Penn.,  under 
Rev.  Robert  Birch.  Soon  after  I  joined,  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's-Supper  was  administered,  and  I  felt  it  to 
be  my  duty,  as  well  as  privilege,  to  seal  my  vows  of  loy- 
alty to  the  Savior  by  a  consecration  of  myself  at  his 
altar.  But  I  thought  it  becoming  a  youth  to  be  pre- 
ceded by  older  ones,  so  I  waited  to  see  my  leader  go 
forward,  intending  to  follow  him.  But  he  did  not  go, 
and  the  service  closed  and  I  was  cut  off.  This  left  me 
in  deep  sorrows     I  knew  not  the  cause  of  his  not  going 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSOX.  59 

forward.  I  thought  that  every  Christian  ought  to  ac- 
knowledge his  Lord,  by  doing  this,  in  remembrance  of 
him.  But  by  waiting,  out  of  deference  to  and  respect 
for  age,  I  was  deprived  from  doing  what  I  felt  to  be  a 
duty  and  a  privilege. 

My  distress  of  mind  was  great;  I  did  not  feel  con- 
demned, for  I  had  intended  no  wrong,  but  to  do  right. 
But  yet  I  was  distressed  in  mind.  And  in  this  state  1 
went  to  my  boarding-house ;  and  it  occurred  to  my 
mind,  I  know  not  from  what  source,  if  it  was  not  a  good 
one — as  the  sequel  proved  it  to  be — to  take  a  bit  of 
bread  and  eat  it  as  an  emblem  of  the  broken  body  of 
Christ,  and  in  remembrance  of  his  death  and  suffering. 
And  then  I  took  a  sup  of  water,  in  remembrance  of  his 
shed  blood;  and  though  the  bread  and  water  had  not 
been  consecrated  in  sacerdotal  form,  nor  did  the  water 
resemble  his  blood,  as  wine  would,  yet,  as  the  motive 
qualifies  the  act,  this  simple  substitute,  under  the  cir- 
cumstances, was  acceptable  to  God,  and  he  blessed  my 
soul  with  peace,  removing  the  distress  of  mind,  and  I 
felt  approved  of  God  in  so  doing. 

When  I  met  my  leader,  I  inquired  of  him  why  he 
did  not  partake  of  the  sacrament,  and  informed  him  of 
the  consequence  to  me.  He  said  that  he  had  an  unrec- 
onciled difficulty  with  a  brother  in  the  Church;  and  the 
Savior  said,  '-If  thou  bring  thy  gift  to  the  altar,  and 
there  rememberest  that  thy  brother  hath  aught  against 
thee,  leave  there  thy  gift,  and  go  thy  way;  first  be  rec- 
onciled to  thy  brother,  and  the*n  come  and  offer  thy  gift/' 
I  learned,  afterward,  that  the  difficulty  was,* that  the 
brother  and  the  leaders  daughter  wished  to  unite  their 
fortunes  by  marriage,  but  he  was  opposed  to  it,  and 
hardness  of  feeling  had  grown  out  of  the  affair.  But, 
as  in  most  such  cases,  the  couple  were  married. 

This  led  me  to  reflect  on  the  text  he  had  quoted ; 
the  plain  meaning  of  which  is,  "if  thou  hast  given  cause 


60  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

of  complaint;  if  you  have  done  wrong;  if  you  have  been 
angry  without  a  cause;  if  you  have  used  opprobrious  or 
unchristian  epithets,  or  given  wrong  names,  then  it  is 
for  you  to  go  and  be  reconciled  before  your  gift  will  be 
accepted.  But  if  any  have  ever  so  much  against  you 
without  just  cause,  if  you  are  not  in  fault,  it  is  no  rea- 
son why  you  should  not  offer  your  gift.  If  because  our 
enemies,  who  are  such  without  cause,  have  ill-will 
toward  us,  is  a  reason  why  we  should  not  offer  our  gift, 
then  our  Lord  himself  should  have  stayed  away.  If 
we  do  right  we  shall  be  accepted  of  God,  however  much 
others  may  have  against  us."  My  leader  had  taken  the 
popular  but  erroneous  view  of  the  text. 

Having  now  fairly  and  fully  enlisted  in  the  good 
cause,  I  devoted  myself,  soul  and  body,  to  God  and  his 
Church.  I  heard  my  leader  speak  of  a  "second  bless- 
ing," and  inquired  what  he  meant  by  it.  He  explained 
the  nature  of  sanetincation,  and  placed  in  my  hands 
the  Discipline  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  then 
containing  the  Doctrinal  Tracts,  and  pointed  me  partic- 
ularly to  Wesley's  tract  on  Christian  perfection. 

I  thought  if  there  was  a  second  or  a  third,  or  a  thou- 
sand more  blessings  for  the  Christian  than  I  had  at- 
tained, I  wanted  them.  I  had  never  before  heard  of 
this  doctrine.  I  had  been  taught  that  the  Christian's 
first  love  was  the  strongest,  but  not  of  long  duration, 
and  that  the  love  first  obtained  would  most  likely  be 
hid  or  buried  till  the  close  of  life,  when  being  once  in 
grace,  it  must  be  always  there,  and  the  little  spark 
would  be'  rekindled  by  the  cold  winds  of  death,  so  that 
the  soul  would  depart  in  hope  of  future  happiness.  But 
I  desired  to  live  while  I  did  live,  and  to  have  religion 
enough  to  make  and  keep  me  happy.  The  idea  of  hav- 
ing just  religion  enough  to  make  one  miserable — that  is, 
enough  to  know  our  duty  and  feel  the  lash  of  a  guilty 
conscience  for  not  doing  it,  enough  to  be  a  servant,  but 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  61 

not  enough  to  be  a  son — did  not  suit  my  views  of  pro- 
priety or  safety,  nor  the  nature  of  regeneration. 

By  reading  the  Doctrinal  Tracts  I  was  effectually 
cured  of  the  errors  of  Calvinism.  They  cast  a  new  and 
brilliant  light  upon  the  Bible,  and  being  in  accordance 
with  my  experience  of  the  Divine  favor,  which  was 
testified  to  by  the  Spirit  of  God,  1  was  strengthened 
and  confirmed  in  the  doctrines  of  Methodism. 

Mr.  Wesley's  tract  on  Christian  perfection  was,  to 
me,  of  the  greatest  practical  importance.  I  found  in 
me  the  very  imperfections  therein  described,  by  the 
light  of  it,  and  I  also  found  the  remedy,  and  that  their 
removal  was  possible  by  the  grace  of  God,  and  that  the 
remedy — simple  faith  in  Christ — was  attainable;  and 
that  it  was  not  only  a  privilege  to  attain  to  it,  but  a 
duty  to  seek  it.  And  having  devoted  myself  to  God, 
for  time  and  eternity,  and  being  resolved  to  gain  all 
attainable  grace,  I  resolved  to  seek  it  at  once. 

Though  I  felt  that  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  had  forgiven 
my  sins,  yet  my  nature  was  contaminated  both  by  the 
fall  of  Adam  and  by  my  former  sinful  practices.  Though 
my  sins  had  been  torn  out  by  the  roots,  and  "  separated 
from  me  as  far  as  the  East  is  from  the  West,"  yet  some- 
thing like  the  prongs  of  those  roots  seemed  to  remain; 
for  I  felt  pride,  anger,  the  love  of  the  world,  and  such 
like  "roots  of  bitterness"  springing  up  within  and 
marring  my  peace.  And  though  I  loved  God,  that  love 
did  not  appear  to  be  perfect.  And  learning  from  this 
tract,  and  the  Scriptures  therein  quoted,  that  it  was  the 
"will  of  God,  even  my  sanctification,"  this  became  the 
object  of  my  pursuit. 

Among  my  besetting  sins,  and  perhaps  the  hardest 
one  to  grapple  with,  was  passion,  or  anger,  connected 
with  an  impetuosity  of  nature,  which  often  led  me  into 
hasty  acts  or  words,  for  which  I  was  afterward  sorry. 
When  this  occurred  it  marred  my  peace  of  mind,  nor 


62  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

could  I  recover  this  until  I  had  repented  of  it,  and  ob-' 
tained  forgiveness  from  God.  When  a  mere  child,  my 
mother,  noticing  this  characteristic  in  me,  often  said 
she  feared  this  quickness  of  temper  would  lead  me  into 
serious  trouble  in  after  life;  and,  if  it  had  not  been 
cured,  or  brought  under  the  control  of  the  grace  of 
God,  I  am  fearful  it  would  have  been  the  case.  With 
this  sin  I  had  a  severe  contest,  which  lasted  three 
weeks;  but  I  was  finally  victorious,  and  for  three  years 
did  not  have  my  passions  ruffled  under  any  ever  so 
trying  circumstances. 

My  nature  was  not  changed,  as  to  its  impetuosity, 
but  that  being  in  subjection  to  the  grace  of  God,  it  was 
under  control  from  angry  passions.  It  has  often  be- 
trayed me  into  too  fast  action  or  words,  and  hence  im- 
prudences, though  actuated  by  the  purest  of  motives. 
But  over  my  passions  I  have,  by  the  grace  of  God,  had 
such  control  as  not  to  notice  even  an  intended  insult, 
till  it  was  too  far  in  the  past  to  notice,  and  let  it  go  to 
the  moles  and  the  bats. 

While  at  Carlisle  I  had  an  opportunity  of  witness- 
ing the  "power,"  upon  the  bodies  of  persons  under 
religious  influence,  which  led  me  to  examine  the  case 
closely,  philosophically,  physiologically,  ami  religiously. 
The  first  instance  was  in  class-meeting.  A  young  lady 
of  feeble  physical  frame,  but  of  undoubted  piety,  rose 
to  relate  the  state  of  her  mind,  in  answer  to  the  inquiry 
of  the  leader,  and  while  speaking  fell  like  a  log  set 
up  on  one  end,  striking  her  head  on  the  iron  foot  of  an 
old-fashioned  ten-plate  stove.  There  was  no  excite- 
ment in  the  room,  further  than  a  good  calm  state  of 
religious  feeling;  and  no  other  one  was  exercised  as 
she  was. 

When  I  saw  her  fall  upon  the  iron  my  flesh  cringed, 
and  my  breath  suspended  for  a  moment,  for  1  thought 
her  skull  must  be  broken,  and  if  so,  that  death  must 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  63 

ensue.  Every  joint  and  muscle  in  her  frame  appeared 
to  have  lost  all  elasticity,  and  assumed  a  rigidity,  to 
me,  unaccountable.  A  cold  chill  passed  over  my  whole 
frame;  and  if  I  had  not  been  sitting  I  should  have 
sunk  down  upon  my  seat. 

I  have  seen  men  fall  from  being  shot,  and  have 
stepped  over  the  dead  on  the  field  of  battle;  but  the 
idea  of  such  a  fall,  and  as  I  thought  for  a  moment,  a 
death  in  the  house  of  God.  and  connected  with  his  wor- 
ship, gave  me  such  feelings  as  I  never  had  before  or 
since.  But  they  were  momentary,  for  the  good  sisters 
present,  who  understood  the  matter,  immediately  raised 
her  up,  and  the  rigid  state  of  her  frame  was  gone  and 
she  went  on  with  her  sweet  story  of  love  to  God  and 
his  cause,  and  of  the  peace  and  joy  she  felt  in  her  soul. 
And  when  the  meeting  was  out  she  walked  off  as 
sprightly  as  if  nothing  of  the  kind  had  occurred.  I 
inquired,  afterward,  if  her  head  was  not  hurt,  and  was 
assured  that  not  even  a  bump  was  raised. 

Soon  after  this  I  went  with  this  young  lady  and 
several  other  persons  of  both  sexes,  six  miles  on  foot, 
to  hear  brother  Birch  preach,  at  one  of  his  country  ap- 
pointments. At  the  close  of  the  class-meeting,  which 
followed  preaching,  this  young  lady  took  a  regular 
jumping  shout.  Four  young  ladies,  each  of  them  larger 
and  stouter  than  herself,  attempted  to  hold  her,  but  in 
vain.  Their  united  strength  was  apparently  no  more 
than  that  of  a  child.  She  would  spring  from  them, 
sometimes  across  the  room,  and  repeatedly  leap  some 
two  feet  high  and  fall  to  the  floor,  her  head  often  strik- 
ing on  the  end  of  a  table  or  chest  which  stood  in  the 
room,  and  then  upon  the  uncarpeted  floor.  This  was 
continued  for  an  hour  or  more,  in  which  time  she  must 
have  taken  twenty  or  more  such  falls.  At  first  my 
feelings  again  cringed;  but  recollecting  the  occurrence 
in  the  church,  and  seeing  that  she  received  no  injury 


64  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

now,  my  fears  subsided,  and  I  sat  with  astonishment 
and  wonder,  viewing  the  scene  before  me,  being  now 
satisfied  that  her  excitement  and  superhuman  strength 
were  produced  in  some  mysterious  way,  to  me  un- 
known, by  the  influence  of  the  Divine  Spirit  upon  her 
constitutional  temperament.  1  was  also  satisfied  that 
no  person  could  receive  injury,  in  such  an  exercise, 
when  it  was  from  the  divine  influence;  for  God  never 
did,  and  never  will  hurt  any  body. 

On  our  way  home,  near  midnight,  after  thus  travel- 
ing twelve  miles  on  foot,  and  taking  an  hour's  jump- 
ing and  thumping  on  the  table,  chest,  and  floor,  she 
made  no  complaint  of  weariness,  but  said  she  felt 
better  in  body  and  mind  than  when  she  went  out  to 
the  meeting. 

Feeling  disposed  to  obey  God  in  all  things,  and  be- 
lieving that  he  would  not  have  called  me  to  the  min- 
istry, but  with  a  design  to  assist  and  bless  and  make 
me  useful  in  it,  I  devoted  my  leisure  moments  to  read- 
ing, prayer,  hearing  the  Word,  and,  as  opportunity 
occurred,  to  converse  with  and  exhort  others  to  seek 
the  pearl  of  great  price ;  and  I  had  the  satisfaction  of 
seeing  one  converted  who  attributed  her  awakening  to 
my  conversation  and  exhortation  in  the  social  circle, 
before  I  left  Carlisle.  Such  was  my  thirst  for  knowl- 
edge, and  that  kind  too  that  would  qualify  me  for  the 
work  to  which  I  felt  myself  to  be  called,  that  when  I 
could  not  get  lights  in  the  house,  I  have  sat  for  hours 
out-of-doors  and  read  by  moonlight,  when  that  orb 
was  at  or  near  its  full,  and  no  clouds  intervening. 

In  the  Fall  of  that  year,  (1809,)  I  attended  a  camp- 
meeting  about  six  miles  from  Carlisle,  but  with  very 
different  views  and  feelings  from  those  I  had  at  Cro- 
ton,  N.  Y.,  in  1805.  About  a  dozen  of  us,  male  and 
female,  not  belonging  to  families  who  had  tents,  nor 
having  friends  on  the  ground  who  had  tents  to  invite 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUXSON.  65 

us  to,  associated  to  form  a  tent.  The  ladies  furnished 
bedding,  and  sheets  of  which  to  make  the  tents,  and 
the  cooking  and  table  apparatus,  while  the  men  made 
up  a  purse  to  purchase  the  provisions,  and  procure  a 
team  to  convey  the  ladies  and  baggage  to  and  from  the 
encampment,  the  men  going  on  foot.  We  pitched  our 
tent  near  the  preachers'  stand,  and  from  prudential 
motives,  invited  an  elderly  married  man  to  tent  with 
and  preside  over  us. 

This  meeting,  to  me.  was  the  nearest  heaven  of  any 
place  I  had  ever  been  in;  and  I  felt  that  if  other  du- 
ties of  life  would  admit  of  it,  I  should  like  to  live  and 
die  on  that  sacred  spot.  It  was,  indeed,  "the  house  of 
God  and  the  gate  of  heaven"  to  me,  and  hundreds  of 
others. 

I  suppose  there  was  the  usual  amount  of  rowdyism 
outside  the  camp,  for,  as  in  the  days  of  Job,  "when  the 
sons  of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the 
Lord,  Satan  came  also  among  them,"  so  it  has  been 
since,  but  I  saw  none  of  it,  for  I  went  not  among  them. 
A  powerful  work  of  God  was  going  on  in  the  tents, 
and  at  the  altar,  and  scores,  and  probably  a  hundred  or 
more  precious  souls  were  converted  to  God.  I  never 
wept  more  freely  than  when  I  left  the  ground,  which 
to  me,  and  to  many  others,  was  holy  ground. 

At  this  meeting  I  witnessed  more  of  the  shouting 
and  jumping  exercise,  under  circumstances  that  proved 
the  protection  of  God  from  any  and  all  harm.  The 
seats  in  the  altar  were  made  of  thick  oak  slabs,  hav- 
ing sharp  edges,  hut  slightly  trimmed.  The  jumpers 
were  mostly  ladies'  who  leaped  high  and  fell  upon  the 
edges  of  the  seats  with  such  force  that  under  ordinary 
circumstances  must  have  broken  limbs  and  ribs.  But 
no  one  was  injured. 

I  saw  some  who  fell,  when  awakened  to  a  sense  of 
their  lost  estate,  male  and  female,  who  lay  for  hours  as 

6 


66  A  WESTERN   PIONEER. 

if  dead,  having  no  appearance  of  life,  except  a  regular 
pulse  and  occasional  breathing;  some  lay  as  limpsy  as  a 
rag,  their  joints  as  loose  as  those  of  a  skeleton  hung 
together  by  wires,  while  others  were  so  stiff  and  rigid 
in  their  joints  that  apparently  a  bone  would  break  as 
soon  as  a  joint  would  bend.  In  all  these  cases  when 
the  person  came  to,  it  was  with  a  shout  of  glory  to  God 
for  pardoning  mercy.  I  saw,  also,  several,  who  had 
previously  obtained  religion,  thus  lie,  and  in  general 
they  came  out  of  such  spells  with  a  shout,  but  some 
came  to  as  if  out  of  a  sleep ;  but  all  were  as  happy,  ap- 
parently, as  they  could  be  in  the  body. 

When  under  awakening,  and  during  my  penitent 
state,  the  sin  of  leaving  my  widowed  mother,  as  I  did, 
was  among  the  heaviest  that  troubled  me  ;  and  to  make 
the  best  amends  1  could,  as  I  was  then  situated,  I 
wrote  to  her,  informing  her  of  my  whereabouts,  and 
the  state  of  my  mind.  I  soon  received  an  answer  that 
the  storm  under  which  I  had  left  home  had  blown 
over.  The  boys  were  arrested,  but  all  were  acquitted 
but  one,  who  was.  indeed,  the  instigator  of  the  affair 
by  leading  the  rest  of  us  to  the  place,  for  the  purpose, 
as  it  turned  out,  of  getting  us  into  a  quarrel  on  his 
account,  and  my  mother  urged  me  to  return.  This 
caused  me  to  abandon  my  Ohio  intentions  and  turn  my 
feet  toward  my  native  State. 

On  my  way  I  spent  a  week  in  Columbia,  on  the  Sus- 
quehanna River,  going  thence  to  a  camp  meeting  about 
six  miles  from  Lancaster,  Penn.,  in  the  neighborhood 
of  the  Boehms.  Here  I  had  another  precious  time  in 
waiting  upon  God  in  the  tented  grove ;  here  I  saw  and 
heard  Thomas  Birch  and  Thomas  Boring,  of  Phila- 
delphia, and  here  I  parted  with  Eobert  Birch,  who  re- 
ceived me  into  the  Church  and  seemed  to  me  as  a 
father. 

In  one  of  brother  Boring's  discourses,  he  took  his 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  67 

text  from  Psa.  lxxx,  8,  etc. :  "  Thou  hast  brought  a  vine 
out  of  Egypt;  thou  hast  east  out  the  heathen,  and 
planted  it,"  etc.  In  appl}Ting  this  to  the  Church  and 
the  spread  of  pure  religion,  he  said :  "  God  took  a  branch 
of  this  vine  and  planted  it  in  Oxford,  in  England.  Jt 
spread  all  over  that  kingdom,  and  over  the  Atlantic  to 
our  shores,  where  it  took  root  and  is  spreading  over  this 
land.  Though  there  was  a  time  when  all  the  Method- 
ists in  America  could  have  been  put  into  a  corn-erib, 
now  all  the  corn-cribs  Joseph  had  in  Egypt  could  not 
hold  them."  Such  a  remark  now  would  not  be  so  ap- 
preciated as  then,  when  Methodists  were  comparatively 
few,  and  were  subject  to  all  manner  of  indignities. 

I  met  at  this  meeting  a  young  lady,  who  the  year 
before,  at  Columbia,  had  the  most  remarkable  vision  of 
the  spirit  world  of  any  person  I  ever  saw.  She  lost 
her  strength  in  church  at  a  quarterly-meeting,  and  was 
carried  home  Sabbath  afternoon.  She  continued  in  this 
state,  lying  on  the  bed  till  Monday  morning,  when  she 
seemed  to  awake.  She  told  her  friends  she  should  go 
again  and  remain  in  that  state  till  Friday  at  3  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  and  charged  them  to  give  her  nothing  to  eat  or 
drink,  or  suffer  any  person  to  touch  her,  and  especially 
not  to  feel  her  pulse.  The  people  in  town  became  much 
excited,  and  all  manner  of  remarks  were  made  about 
the  case,  good,  bad,  and  indifferent.  The  house  was 
filled  with  goers  and  comers  from  each  morning  till  a 
late  hour  at  night. 

On  Wednesday  a  lady  approached  her  by  stealth 
and  felt  of  her  pulse,  when  she  rose  up  and  said  :  "  Why 
did  you  suffer  this  woman  to  touch  me,  when  I  charged 
you  not  to?  I  fell  like  a  dead  body  from  heaven,  the 
moment  she  did  so.  I  shall  go  again  and  remain  till 
Friday,  as  I  told  you.  But  be  sure  and  let  no  one 
touch  me,  or  offer  me  any  thing  to  eat  or  drink."  This 
incident   raised  the  excitement  among  outsiders  still 


68  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

higher,  and  on  Thursday  another  attempt  was  made  to 
feel  her  pulse,  but  was  prevented. 

On  Friday  the  house  was  filled  with  an  anxious  people 
to  see  the  rising  up.  As  3  o'elock  approached  some 
misgivings  or*  her  iriends  occurred,  lest,  being  so  long 
without  food,  she  should  not  come  to.  But  at  the  mo- 
ment she  sat  up  in  bed,  as  if  an  unseen  hand  had  raised 
her.  She  upbraided  the  woman  who  had  made  the  at- 
tempt to  touch  her  the  day  before,  and  told  her  that  if 
she  had  succeeded  she  would  have  been  struck  dead 
that  moment.  She  pointed  to  several  in  the  room,  and 
told  them  what  they  had  said  about  her,  not  in  her 
presence,  so  that  she  could  not  have  heard  it  herself. 
These  revelations  prepared  the  people  to  believe  what 
she  had  to  say  about  the  spirit  world,  but  which  can  not 
be  here  related. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

OTn"  my  way  home  I  went  through  Philadelphia,  Bur- 
lington, and  South  Amboy,  to  New  York.  Here  I 
took  passage  in  a  sloop  bound  to  Bridgeport,  Conn.  1 
had  long  had  a  desire  to  see  this  place,  and  took  this 
opportunity  to  visit  it.  On  our  passage  up  Long  Is- 
land Sound,  in  the  night,  Ave  were  struck  by  a  sudden 
storm,  and  the  vessel  being  without  ballast,  and  the 
sailors  being  rather  tardy  in  getting  down  the  sails, 
the  vessel  was  thrown  upon  her  beam  ends,  and  the 
table  and  chairs  in  the  cabin  fell  to  the  lee  side  in 
great  confusion,  and  to  appearance,  for  a  moment,  she 
must  fill  with  water,  and  perhaps  sink  to  the  bottom 
of  the  Sound. 

I  stood  in  the  cabin  door,  braced  against  the  sides 
of  it,  the  only  passenger  on  board,  and  seeing  her  go 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  69 

down  gunwales  under,  I.  looked,  expecting  to  sec  the 
mast  and  sails  in  the  water,  in  a  moment  more.  But 
I  was  never  more  calm  in  mind  in  my  life.  I  felt  as- 
sured, if  the  vessel  were  lost,  I  should  get  ashore  in 
some  way,  if  it  was  on  an  oar  or  plank.  This  assur- 
ance grew  out  of  the  fact  of  my  call  to  the  ministry, 
for  I  thought  that  if  God  designed  me  for  that  work, 
he  would  preserve  me  to  do  it. 

During  the  careening  of  the  vessel,  the  men  held  on 
to  the  rigging  and  were  quite  still,  without  a  profane 
word.  But  as  soon  as  she  righted  up  they  began  their 
wonted  profanity.  The  captain  said  he  "guessed  the 
passenger  was  badly  scared."  But  if  he  had  known 
my  thoughts  and  feelings,  he  would  have  guessed  oth- 
erwise. But  1  guessed  that  they  were  badly  seared, 
for  they    held    up  from  profanity  till  the  danger  was 


In  Bridgeport  I  obtained  work,  and  wrote  to  my 
mother  and  uncle,  who  came  to  see  me,  and  we  arranged 
to  buy  my  time,  paid  him  for  it,  and  thus  I  becamo  my 
own  master  at  sixteen  years  of  age.  While  at  Carlisle  I 
took  a  coarse  of  instructions  in  my  trade,  from  the  best 
workman  in  that  town,  and  was  now  qualified  to  do 
the  host  work  in  my  new  residence.  Bridgeport  was 
then  but  a  small  borough,  though  quite  an  ancient  sea- 
port, and  it  being  better  for  my  trade  than  Danbury, 
and  but  twenty  miles  from  my  mother,  whom  I  could 
visit  and  transmit  my  earnings  to  as  they  came  in,  I 
concluded  to  stay  there. 

As  soon  as  I  had  secured  work  I  made  inquiry  for 
Methodists;  of  these  I  found  but  one  in  the  place,  and 
she  was  a  servant  girl.  But  a  mile  or  so  out  west,  in 
"Mutton  Lane,"  I  learned  there  was  a  class  and  preach- 
ing-place, at  "Father  Wells's."  His  wife  with  two  of 
her  sisters  constituted  the  first  class  of  Methodists 
formed  in  New  England  by  Jesse  Lee;  who  said  "the 


70  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

first  success  he  met  with  in  New  England  was  in  that 
he  caught  those  ewe  lambs  in  Mutton  Lane." 

This  name  was  attached  to  the  street  which  consti- 
tuted tho  line  between  the  towns  of  Stratford  and  Fair- 
field. The  parish  church,  which  then  stood  on  it,  was 
called  Stratfield,  partaking  of  the  names  of  both  towns, 
as  it  embraced  territory  in  each. 

This  street  ran  down  upon  a  point  of  land  into  Long 
Island  Sound,  between  Bridgeport  and  Black  Bock 
harbors,  and  in  the  Revolutionary  war,  when  the 
British  occupied  Long  Island,  the  Tories  and  Cow- 
boys, who  stole  the  sheep  and  cattle  of  the  Whigs,  and 
conveyed  them  to  the  British,  took  them  down  this 
street,  called  a  lane,  though  of  ample  width,  and 
shipped  them  to  the  Island.  This  gave  the  street  the 
name  of  Mutton  Lane.  It  was  on  this  street  that  the 
famous  Barnum,  the  prince  of  humbugs,  built  his  splen- 
did residence  that  was  afterward  burned. 

On  the  morning  of  the  first  Sabbath  after  I  reached 
Bridgeport,  I  wended  my  way  to  Father  Wells's,  in  quest 
of  a  Methodist  meeting — for  "birds  of  a  feather  will 
flock  together" — and  on  entering  the  house,  and  before 
I  had  time  to  introduce  myself,  Mother  Wells  met  me 
with  a  smiling  countenance  and  outstretched  hand, 
saying,  "This,  I  presume,  is  our  young  brother  of 
whom  we  have  heard  in  Bridgeport."  Of  course,  I 
received  a  hearty  welcome. 

I  went  with  them  that  day  to  prayer  and  class- 
meeting,  held  in  a  private  house,  and  the  next  night 
being  preaching  night,  I  presented  my  certificate  to 
Billy  Hibbard,  then  in  charge  of  Old  Beading  circuit, 
and  thus  became  attached  to  the  first  Methodist  class 
formed  in  New  England.  This  was  about  the  10th  of 
September,  1809. 

In  October  I  visited  my  mother  in  Danbuiy,  and 
on  Sabbath,  the  29th,  attended  Methodist  meeting  in 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  71 

the  old  school-house,  the  first  time  I  had  met  that  class 
since  I  embraced  religion.  I  found  that  several  young 
persons,  of  my  former  associates,  had  embraced  religion, 
and  belonged  to  the  class.  But,  had  it  been  otherwise, 
I  now  had  strength  enough  to  withstand  the  charms  of 
youthful  company.  I  heard  a  local  preacher  of  my 
name,  but  not  near  enough  related  to  claim  any  con- 
nection with  him,  except  in  the  Lord. 

From  the  time  I  was  enlightened  on  the  subject  of 
sanctification  I  had  been  in  earnest  pursuit  of  it,  by 
fasting  every  Friday,  and  by  continued  meditation  and 
prayer,  and  faith.  My  faith  was:  1.  That  the  blessing 
was  attainable.  I  should  no  more  have  sought  this 
blessing  if  I  had  not  believed  it  attainable,  than  I 
should  have  sought  justification  without  faith  in  its 
attainability.  2.  I  believed  that  it  was  "  the  will  of 
God,  even  my  sanctification ;"  and  if  so,  it  was  not 
only  a  privilege,  but  a  duty  to  seek  and  enjoy  it.  And, 
further,  that  "if  I  confessed  my  sins" — as  I  did — "he 
was  faithful  and  just  to  forgive  my  sins,  and  to  cleanse 
me  from  all  unrighteousness."  3.  I  believed  that  with- 
out it  I  should  lack  a  fitness  for  heaven,  for  "without 
holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord"  in  peace.  4.  I 
believed  that  in  the  enjoyment  of  this  blessing  I  should 
be  happier  than  in  a  mere  justified  state;  for  the 
holier  a  person  is  the  more  lie  is  like  God,  and,  of 
course,  the  happier;  and  happiness,  both  on  earth  and 
finally  in   heaven,  was  the  great  object  of  my  pursuit. 

While  I  was  listening  to  the  Word  preached  on  this 
day  a  strange  feeling  came  over  me.  I  seemed  to  be 
on  the  banks  of  Jordan,  in  sight  of  the  promised  land 
I  then  viewed  the  passage  of  the  Israelites  through 
the  Eed  Sea,  as  typical  of  conversion  ;  their  journey 
through  the  wilderness,  as  typical  of  the  justified  state; 
and  crossing  Jordan,  as  t}Tpical  of  sanctification.  This 
accounts  for  the  train  of  thought  and  feeling.     In  an 


72  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

instant  a  change  came  over  me,  as  sensibly  as  when  I 
was  converted,  which  gave  me  a  higher  and  purer 
peace  than  that  of  justification,  and  the  same  kind  of 
whisper  in  my  ear,  as  I  had  experienced  when  awakened 
and  converted,  said,  "You  are  sanctified." 

But,  thought  I,  this  is  impossible  for  one  so  young, 
and  in  so  short  a  time  after  conversion;  while  the  Is- 
raelites were  forty  years  in  the  wilderness,  in  what  I 
then  deemed  to  be  a  type  of  the  justified  state,  and 
many,  now  on  their  way,  had  been  ten,  twenty,  and 
even  forty  years  in  that  state,  and  jret  not  sanctified. 
But  the  whisper  was  repeated,  "You  are  sanctified." 
"  Then,"  said  I,  "  Lord,  if  it  is  so,  give  me  the  evidence  of 
it;"  and  the  evidence  came  in  a  similar  manner  to  that 
of  justification,  except  that  the  peace  I  now  felt  was  as 
much  superior  to  that  of  justification,  as  the  latter  is 
superior  to  the  peace  of  a  mind  not  disturbed  by  a 
consciousness  of  sin. 

I  had  had  a  conviction  of  the  necessity  of  being 
cleansed  from  inbred  sin,  as  clear  as  were  my  convic- 
tions of  sin,  and  the  necessity  of  pardon;  but  with  this 
difference:  Before  justification  a  heavy  sense  of  sin  and 
burden  of  guilt  lay  upon  my  conscience,  but  after  par- 
don, and  before  sanctification,  I  had  no  sense  of  guilt. 
I  could  not,  of  course,  feel  guilty  of  sin  for  which  I  had 
been  pardoned — but  I  felt  a  sense  of  want  of  conformity 
to  the  divine  image  :  a  hungering  and  thirsting  to  be 
made  clean,  to  have  my  love  to  God  made  perfect. 

But  now  my  peace  of  mind  and  love  to  God 
seemed  to  be  perfect.  It  flowed  like  the  river,  not  like 
a  brook  over  falls  and  rapids,  and  then  in  a  smoother 
current,  but  deep,  constant,  and  uniform.  And  to  pre- 
serve this  state  of  mind,  one  means  I  adopted  was  not 
to  do  any  thing  that  I  would  not  be  willing  to  die  in 
the  act;  and  when  any  thing  presented  itself  to  be 
done,  or  if  solicited  or  tempted  to  do  any  thing,  I  first 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  73 

looked  inwardly  and  to  God,  to  see  whether  my  con- 
science approved  or  disapproved,  and  whether  I  would 
be  willing  to  die  in  the  act  and  go  before  my  judge. 
If  so,  I  went  on  ;  if  not,  I  desisted,  no  difference  what, 
when,  or  where,  or  what  would  be  the  consequences,  the 
persecutions,  opprobriums,  or  contempt  it  might  subject 
me  to.  And  this  is  still  the  motto  of  my  life,  and  a 
safeguard. 

I  have  often  erred  in  judgment  as  to  what  was  right 
or  wrong,  and  from  that  cause  erred  in  action,  but  still 
feeling  no  reproof  of  conscience.  I  acted  as  I  did  with 
a  willingness  to  die  in  the  deed,  if  God  should  see  fit  to 
call  me  then,  and  trusted  to  his  mercy  to  overlook  and 
wipe  out  the  unavoidable  infirmities  of  my  nature. 
In  short,  however  I  may  have  erred  in  judgment,  and, 
consequent^,  therefrom  erred  in  action,  it  has  been 
only  in  such  matters  as  do  not  involve  a  violation  of  the 
moral  law,  and,  of  course,  not  a  matter  of  approval  or 
disapproval  by  an  enlightened  conscience,  but  such 
matters  as  are  left  to  human  judgment,  or  such  things 
as  we  may  do  or  not  do,  without  involving  guilt  before 
God.  In  all  such  matters,  if  shown  my  error,  it  gives 
me  more  pleasure  to  be  corrected,  than  it  would  to 
triumph  in  the  error  in  debate  on  the  question. 

I  found  that  I  was  not  exempt  from  temptation,  but 
rather  temptations  were  heavier  than  before;  but  they 
had  less  effect,  there  being  no  foe  within  to  reciprocate 
or  aid  the  outward  enemy.  The  nearer  one  lives  to 
God,  the  more  the  devil  will  hate  him,  and,  of  course, 
try  him;  and  the  higher  one  rises  in  the  favor  of  God, 
and  the  higher  the  profession  of  it,  the  farther  he  must 
fall,  if  he  falls  at  all,  and  the  more  harm  it  will  do  to 
the  cause  of  God.  This  furnishes  another  and  a  strong 
reason  for  Satanic  attack.  And,  finally,  I  have  found 
that  grace  being  according  to  our  day,  not  only  implies 
that  grace  will  be  given  to  meet  any  emergency,  but  it 

7 


74  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

imjDlies  that  grace  will  not  be  given  when  and  whero 
there  is  no  use  for  it.  It  must  be  used,  like  any  other 
talent,  to  grow.  Hence,  whatever  grace  we  may  have, 
it  will  be  tried  to  its  utmost  power  of  resistance,  but  not 
beyond  what  we  are  able  to  bear. 

I  found,  farther,  that  the  human  heart  is  like  a  fort; 
when  attacked  from  without,  if  there  is  an  enemy 
within  who  will  open  the  gates,  or  weaken  the  defenses, 
there  is  more  danger  of  its  falling  than  if  there  were  no 
such  enemies  within.  And  so  with  temptation;  if 
there  is  within  the  heart  what  will  reciprocate  or 
affiliate  with  what  is  without,  the  defenses  are  weakened, 
and  it  is  harder  to  resist.  If  there  is  disease  in  the  body, 
there  is  not  that  strength  to  resist  disease  that  there 
would  be  if  perfect  health  a»d  strength  reigned  within. 

In  the  course  of  the  ensuing  week,  after  receiving 
this  blessing,  I  returned  to  Bridgeport,  and  on  Saturday 
night,  while  full  of  peace  and  joy,  was  contemplating  the 
morrow's  meeting,  and  the  telling  of  my  class-mates  what 
great  things  God  had  done  for  me.  Just  then  Satan 
made  an  assault  on  a  new  tack.  "Now,"  said  he,  "that 
will  be  very  foolish  in  you,  for  you  are  so  young,  and 
of  so  short  experience  that  no  one  will  believe  you. 
There  are  old  and  pious  members  of  the  class,  who  have 
lived  as  holy  as  you,  and  yet  have  not  attained  to  this 
grace.  You  will  only  injure  the  cause,  by  bringing 
this  doctrine  into  disrepute  and  contempt.  For  the 
good  of  the  cause,  therefore,  you  ought  to  keep  this 
matter  to  yourself.  Enjoy  it  as  well  as  you  can,  to 
yourself,  but  do  not  expose  this  great  and  holy  doctrine, 
and  yourself,  to  contempt,  and  thereby  prevent  others 
from  seeking  it." 

It  must  be  admitted  that  this  is  a  very  specious  and 
plausible  argument,  and  being  so  clothed,  as  "an  angel 
of  light,"  I  was  not  aware,  at  first,  that  it  was  the  devil 
who  suggested  this  to  my  mind.     As  I  loved  the  cause 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  75 

of  truth,  and  was  unwilling  to  injure  it  in  any  way,  I 
yielded  to  the  suggestion,  and  instantly  a  painful  dark- 
ness came  over  my  mind,  and  I  felt  reproved  for  con- 
cluding not  to  let  the  light,  which  God  had  marvel- 
ously  given  me,  shine  before  others,  and  thereby 
encourage  them  to  glorify  God  by  seeking  it  also.  I 
saw  at  once  that  it  was  the  devil  wrho  presented  this 
specious  argument,  and  who  had  taken  advantage  of 
my  youth  and  inexperience,  and  thus  led  me,  unwit- 
tingly, to  grieve  the  Good  Spirit.  Had  I  known  the 
author  of  the  suggestion,  I  should  have  rejected  him, 
and  his  argument,  at  once;  but,  having  "transformed 
himself  into  an  angel  of  light,"  he  deceived  me.  But 
the  finale  of  the  matter  was  to  his  disadvantage,  for  I 
learned  by  it  some  of  his  wiles,  and  how  to  resist  him 
in  the  future. 

I  spent  the  night  in  regret,  in  sorrow,  and  in  prayer, 
and  promised  God  that  if  he  would  restore  the  blessing, 
I  would  declare  it;  and  whether  he  did  or  not,  I  deter- 
mined to  declare  what  he  had  done  for  me,  and  how 
the  enemy  had  cheated  me  out  of  it;  and  warn  all,  in 
case  they  obtained  like  favor,  not  to  be  thus  misled. 
Toward  morning  the  blessing  returned,  but  not  as  clear 
and  unclouded  as  before.  There  seemed  to  be  a  draw- 
back to  it,  as  if  to  chastise  me  for  my  want  of  faith  in 
God,  to  acknowledge  him  before  men,  and  leave  conse- 
quences with  him. 

The  next  day  I  met  the  class,  and  told  the  whole 
story,  and  how  I  then  felt.  In  doing  so  the  evidence 
was  brightened,  and  my  class-mates,  instead  of  doing  as 
Satan  intimated  they  would,  rejoiced,  and  magnified 
the  grace  and  mercy  of  God,  and  took  courage  to  seek 
it  for  themselves.  It  was  not  long  before  several  of  the 
members  of  the  class  professed  to  have  attained  the 
same  great  blessing  to  their  own  souls. 

In  the  first  year  of  my  Christian  life,  once  in  about 


76  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

.two  weeks,  I  had  a  regular  set-to  with  the  enemy,  and 
every  trial  I  came  through,  being  alwa}Ts  eventually 
victorious,  I  felt  as  if  I  had  passed  through  a  refining 
furnace,  and  came  out,  like  the  silver  or  gold,  purer 
than  before,  and  could  see  with  my  mind's  eye  the 
dross  that  was  left  behind;  and  this,  too,  after,  as  well 
as  before,  sanctification.  I  also  perceived  that  the  en- 
emy grew  weaker  and  weaker,  after  every  repulse,  and 
I  grew  stronger. 

But  what  he  failed  in  strength  he  tried  to  make  up 
in  strategy.  He  suggested  to  me  that  he  had  tried  his 
last  mode  of  attack,  having  varied  his  mode  in  every 
trial,  every  time  trying  some  new  tack,  till  he  was  ex- 
hausted, and  could  not  attack  in  any  new  form,  but 
must  come,  if  at  all,  in  one  of  the  old  modes.  This  was 
done  to  throw  me  Off  my  guard ;  for  I  soon  found  that 
when  such  a  thought  occurred,  some  new  mode  of  attack 
would  soon  follow,  and  felt  the  full  force  of  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Lord,  that  the  devil  is  a  liar  and  the  father 
of  lies,  and  is  not  to  be  trusted  ;  and  that  my  only 
safety  was  in  living  near  to  God,  and  resisting  the 
devil,  in  whatever  shape  or  form  he  might  come.  If  I 
attempted  to  reason  with  him  he  always  got  the  better 
of  the  argument;  and  well  he  might,  for  he  is  of  a 
higher  order  of  intelligence,  and  has  had  six  thousand, 
or  more,  years  of  experience  in  sophistry  and  decep- 
tion. The  only  way,  therefore,  is  to  resist  him  at  once, 
that  he  may  flee  from  us,  and  do  as  Michael  did,  when 
contending  with  him  about  the  body  of  Moses,  pray 
God  to  rebuke  him.     We  can  pray,  and 

"  The  devil  trembles,  when  he  sees 
The  weakest  saint  upon  his  knees  I" 

Even  our  Divine  Lord  and  Master,  with  all  his  wis- 
dom, did  not  attempt  to  reason  with  the  devil,  in  the 
temptation,  but   repulsed    him,   by  quoting   the   Word 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  77 

of  God,  and  by  a  direct  rejection,  "Get  thee  behind 
me,  Satan." 

In  Bridgeport  I  began  to  make  my  first  efforts  at 
exhortation  and  public  prayer — a  small  affair,  of  course. 
In  my  first  efforts  in  the  prayer-meetings,  it  seemed  as 
if  my  breast  was  as  large  as  a  half-bushel,  and  I  could 
not  only  feel  my  heart  beat,  but  hear  its  throbs  in  my 
ears;  and  sometimes  it  seemed,  or  really  was  the  case, 
that  my  heart,  or  something  else,  rose  into  my  throat, 
so  as  to  prevent  my  utterance,  and  I  would  have  to  de- 
sist. But  my  brethren  bore  with  my  weakness  in  the 
day  of  small  things,  and  recommended  me  for  license 
to  exhort,  and  on  the  10th  of  March,  1810,  I  was  so 
licensed  b}r  the  quarterly-meeting  conference,  and  I 
commenced  making  regular  appointments,  and  held 
prayer-meetings,  and  exhorted. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mother  Wells  gave  me  an 
opportunity  to  hear  much  of  Jesse  Lee,  and  from  her  I 
loarned  many  interesting  anecdotes  of  him,  which  I 
have  not  seen  in  print.  Mrs.  Wells  lived  opposite  Mrs. 
Wheeler,  at  whose  house  Lee  first  called,  on  coming  to 
the  place.  Mrs.  Wells  was  one  of  the  company  of  ladies 
who  were  at  Mrs.  Wheeler's  at  the  time  of  the  call. 

It  has  been  stated  that  Mrs.  Wheeler  joined  the 
class  first  formed  by  Mr.  Lee,  but  this  is  a  mistake. 
She  very  cordially  received  him  to  her  house,  and  heard 
him  with  much  pleasure  and  profit;  and,  in  my  time, 
was  very  friendly,  and  often  attended  preaching,  prayer 
and  class  meetings,  but  never  joined  the  Methodists. 
The  first  class  consisted  of  three  sisters,  of  the  Hall 
family,  who  resided  on  the  same  street,  about  three 
miles  distant.  They  were  Mary  Wells,  Euth  Hall,  who 
was  never  married,  and  a  married  sister,  who  died  in 
the  Lord  before  my  time  there,  and  whose  name  is  gone 
from  me.  Mrs.  Wheeler  was  a  member  of  the  Congre- 
gational Church. 


78  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  Hall  family  thus  becoming  identified  with  the 
Church,  their  house  was  the  preaching  and  stopping- 
place  for  Mr.  Lee,  in  that  neighborhood,  at  that  time. 

At  one  of  his  appointments  here,  while  preaching,  a 
child  cried,  and  its  mother  started  to  leave  the  room 
with  it,  when  a  rowdy  shoved  out  his  foot  to  trip  her, 
and  cause  her  to  fall  to  the  floor  with  the  child.  Lee 
saw  this,  and  stopped  in  his  discourse,  and  looking  the 
man  full  and  sternly  in  the  face,  said,  "  When  the  sons 
of  God  came  to  present  themselves  before  the  Lord, 
Satan  came  also  among  them."  At  this  the  eyes  of 
the  congregation,  most  of  whom  had  noticed  his  mean- 
ness, turned  upon  him,  and  as  Lee  resumed  his  dis- 
course, the  man  slunk  away,  in  shame  and  disgrace,  and 
never  troubled  them  again. 

At  one  time,  when  Lee  was  standing  at  the  door  of 
the  Hall  house,  it  being  on  elevated  ground,  and  look- 
ing over  the  beautiful  landscape  between  him  and  the 
Sound,  he  noticed  the  Stratfield  meeting-house,  and 
said,  "The  Methodists  will  yet  own  and  occupy  that 
house."  Mother  Wells  often  repeated  the  prediction  to 
me,  when  there  was  no  more  prospect  of  its  becoming 
true  than  of  any  other  improbable  thing;  but  she  be- 
lieved that  the  Good  Spirit  suggested  the  thought  to 
him,  and  that  it  would  be  so.  And,  as  Bridgeport  grew 
in  population  and  business,  a  new  meeting-house  was 
built  there  for  the  parish,  and  the  old  one,  in  1815,  fell 
into  the  hands  of  the  Methodists.  This  old  building 
had  then  stood  there  one  hundred  and  thirty  years, 
and  the  steeple  to  it  ninety  years.  Whitefield  preached 
from  the  door-step  of  it,  and  I  saw  in  the  neighborhood 
an  old  lady  who  was  converted  under  his  preaching 
when  young. 

Not  far  from  this  old  Stratfield  meeting-house,  to 
the  south-east  of  it,  in  the  corner  of  a  field,  and  on  a 
rise  of  ground,  in  my  time,  there  was  a  large  granite 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  79 

rock,  with  an  oval  surface,  and  covering  several  square 
rods.  On  the  top  of  this  rock  were  some  of  the  most 
remarkable  prints  of  human  limbs  that  I  ever  saw,  and 
that  greatly  stagger  the  theories  of  modern  geologists. 
They  were  near  an  inch  in  depth,  and  apparently  made 
by  a  man  of  large  size,  who  faced  the  East,  and  fell  upon 
his  knees,  and  then  his  hands,  as  if  worshiping  the  sun 
at  its  rising.  The  feet,  knees,  and  hands  were  naked. 
The  prints  had  no  appearance  of  being  the  work  of 
chisels,  or  other  tools,  but  plainty  the  impress  of  the 
naked  natural  feet,  knees,  and  hands  of  a  man — being 
too  large  to  have  been  of  a  woman — and  much  resem- 
bling impressions  I  have  seen  made  in  brick-mortar, 
or  soft  brick,  upon  the  yard.  i 

As  far  as  I  could  learn  they  were  there  when  the 
whites  first  settled  that  country  near  two  hundred 
years  before;  but  no  one  had  any  tradition  from  the 
Indians  as  to  their  cause,  or  when  first  discovered. 
That  rock  must  have  been  in  a  soft  state  since  there 
were  men  upon  this  continent,  and  hardened  since.  I 
have  been  told  by  miners  from  California  that  there  are 
granite  bowlders  in  that  country  in  all  stages  of  hard- 
ness, from  those  that  will  easily  crumble  under  the 
hammer  to  those 'too  hard  for  the  drill  or  chisel;  and  I 
have  been  told  by  a  miner  from  Cornwall,  England, 
that  he  has  wrought  in  granite  crevice  mines  in  that 
country,  in  which  one  side  of  the  crevice  was  so  hard 
that  when  struck  by  the  pick  the  fire  would  fly,  while 
on  the  other  side  the  wall,  though  as  pure  granite  as 
its  opposite,  was  so  soft  that  it  required  planking  to  pre- 
vent its  caving  in  upon  the  workmen.  The  persons 
giving  me  this  information  were  men  of  intelligence 
and  moral  integrity.  Allowing  what  they  said  to  be 
true,  and  I  believed  them,  it  goes  to  confirm  the  idea 
that  this  granite  rock,  near  Bridgeport,  Conn.,  was  once 
soft  enough  to  receive  the  imprints  I  saw  in  them. 


80  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

In  1852,  having  occasion  to  use  the  fact  of  those  im- 
prints, I  wrote  to  a  friend  at  Bridgeport  to  examine 
them,  and  give  me  a  description  thereof;  but  he  wrote 
back  that  the  quarries  had  destroyed  the  surface  of  the 
rock,  and  they  could  not  be  found. 

Being  now  authorized  to  hold  meetings  I  was  not 
idle,  but  made  appointments  in  different  places,  some 
of  them  several  miles  distant,  to  and  from  which  I 
traveled  on  foot.  No  storms  prevented  me  from  meet- 
ing my  appointments;  and,  to  encourage  me  in  facing 
the  storms,  Mother  Wells  frequently  told  me  how  the 
little  zealous  flock  of  early  Methodists  used  to  travel  on 
foot  for  miles  to  meet  their  praying  friends,  and  some- 
times their  long  red  cloaks — the  fashion  of  those  times — 
would  be  so  thickly  covered  wjth  sleet  and  frozen  rain 
that  they  would  stand  upright  on  the  floor  after  the 
wearers  had  got  out  of  them. 

One  of  my  appointments  was  at  Green's  farms,  six 
miles  out,  on  Saturday  night,  and  then  to  brother  Os- 
bon's,  at  Greenfield,  two  and  a  half  miles,  on  Sabbath. 
The  class  belonged  at  Osbon's,  and  the  meeting  the 
night  before  was  an  extra  one.  On  Sabbath  we  held 
morning  and  afternoon  service,  meeting  class  in  the  in- 
terval. This  was  New  England  custom.  From  Osbon's* 
I  returned  home  on  Sabbath  evening,  in  time  for  night 
meeting.  These  journej's  I  performed  on  foot,  about 
fifteen  miles,  once  in  two  weeks. 

One  day,  at  Osbon's,  a  young  lady  stayed  in  class 
from  motives  of  curiosity,  which  had  become  quite  com- 
mon in  those  days.  In  going  round  I  asked  her  if  she 
enjoyed  religion?  She  said  "No."  "Have  you  not  a 
desire  for  it?"  "No,"  was  the  prompt  reply.  From 
such  an  answer  I  took  it  for  granted  that  she  was  a 
hardened  sinner,  and  exhorted  her  accordingly,  which 
took  effect,  and  she  was  awakened,  and  sought  and 
found  peace  with  God.     As  soon  as  she  became  peni- 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  81 

tent  she  acknowledged  that  in  class  she  did  desire  re- 
ligion, but  answered  as  she  did  because  she  feared  that 
she  should  do  as  others  had  done,  forget  it  as  soon  as 
she  got  out-of-doors,  and  thought  she  would  answer  me 
as  her  conduct  would  probably  be  in  the  sequel. 

But  there  was  an  unexpected  trouble  to  meet  her  in 
seeking  the  Savior.  She  was  engaged  to  be  married. 
As  soon  as  her  lover  knew  that  she  was  seeking  religion 
among  the  Methodists — which,  in  most  cases,  in  those 
times  was  equivalent  to  joining  the  Church — he  per- 
emptorily demanded  of  her  to  leave  the  Methodists,  or 
he  would  leave  her.  To  this  she  promptly  replied,  "If 
that  is  all  you  care  about  me,  the  sooner  you  leave  the 
better;  fori  will  save  my  soul,  husband  or  no  husband." 

This  took  him  all  aback;  for  he  thought  her  love 
for  him  would  induce  her  to  leave  any  thing  for  his 
sake,  not  then  understanding  the  depth  of  the  concern 
of  an  awakened  soul.  Finding  her  so  resolute,  as  he 
afterward  told  me,  he  regretted  his  demand,  and  would 
have  given  all  he  had  in  the  world  if  he  had  not  said 
it;  but,  having  said  it,  the  pride  of  his  heart  would 
not  let  him  then  take  it  back,  and  he  left  her  for  a 
season. 

But  such  was  his  attachment  to  her  he  could  not  be 
content  without  seeing  her  as  often  as  possible;  and,  to 
have  this  privilege,  he  attended  Methodist  meetings 
regularly,  where  she  was  sure  to  be,  not  only  on  Sun- 
days, but  also  on  week-night  prayer-meetings.  This 
brought  him  in  contact  with  the  awakening  instru- 
mentalities of  the  Gospel;  and,  hearing  her  pray  in 
public,  after  her  conversion,  he,  also,  was  awakened, 
and  at  once  approached  his  loved  one,  and  asked  her 
to  forgive  him,  and  allow  him  to  renew  his  visits — 
which,  of  course,  she  did,  and  prayed  for  him,  and  he 
was  converted  in  about  a  month  after  she  was.  They 
were  soon  afterward  married,  having  both  joined  the 


82  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Church;  and  he  often  thanked  God,  and  his  wife,  too, 
for  her  integrity,  which  had  been  the  means  of  saving 
both  of  them ;  while,  if  she  had  given  way  to  his  un- 
reasonable and  ungentlemanly  demand,  probably  both 
would  have  perished  together. 

In  1810,  on  a  visit  to  my  mother,  she  expressed  a 
wish  that  I  would  get  Betsy,  my  oldest  sister,  converted. 
I  replied  that  I  could  not  convert  her;  I  could  only  use 
the  means. 

"I  know  that,"  she  said,  "but  I  wish  you  would  use 
the  means." 

"I  will,"  said  I.  "But,  mother,  would  you  be  will- 
ing for  her  to  be  a  Methodist?" 

"  I  do  n't  care  what  she  is  if  she  will  only  become  a 
Christian.'" 

"Well,  there  is  to  be  a  camp-meeting  in  September, 
at  Paulding's,  seventeen  miles  from  here,  and  if  }'OU  will 
prepare  us  some  provisions  I  will  secure  a  comv^anee, 
and  a  place  in  a  tent,  and  take  her  along,  if  she  will  go." 

But  the  thought  of  a  camp-meeting — which  was  as- 
sociated in  her  mind  with  all  the  dismal  and  slanderous 
stories  she  had  ever  heard  of  them — caused  her  to 
shudder. 

"But,  mother,  are  you  afraid  to  trust  Betsy  any- 
where?" 

"No,"  said  she;  "but  such  dreadful  stories  are  told 
of  them,  I  fear  some  bad  report;  but,  if  you  will  see  to 
her  she  may  go." 

Betsy  was  one  of  those  lively  and  moving  spirits 
that  gave  life  to  the  company  she  was  in,  and,  without 
her,  the  circle  in  which  she  moved — the  first  in  the 
place — were  at  a  loss  for  amusements.  She  took  the 
lead  in  the  talk,  in  the  play,  and  in  the  dance  ;  and  this 
was  the  reason  for  my  mother's  great  anxiety  for  her 
conversion  to  God. 

As  the  time  for  the  meeting  approached,  I  dreamed 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  83 

of  seeing  a  child,  a  mere  infant,  whose  hands  and 
fingers  were  tinged  with  gold,  very  bright,  and  it  was 
very  happy,  lifting  its  hands  and  saying  glory,  though 
apparently  too  young  to  talk.  This  encouraged  me 
greatly  to  hope  and  pray  for  my  sister's  conversion. 
But  it  was  the  most  distant  thought  in  her  mind.  She 
had  not  heard  the  conversation  between  me  and  my 
mother  upon  the  subject.  But  being  of  a  romantic 
turn  of  mind,  when  I  proposed  to  her  to  accompany 
me  to  the  meeting,  she  at  once  consented,  laughingly, 
expecting  a  romantic  time  of  it,  including  the  ride  in 
the  country  and  the  scenery  in  the  woods. 

The  people  with  whom  we  tented  were  of  acknowl- 
edged respectability,  which  allayed  the  fears  of  both 
mother  and  sister.  As  soon  as  we  were  on  the  ground 
I  introduced  her  to  some  sisters  of  deep  piety,  intelli- 
gent, and  zealous  for  the  salvation  of  souls;  informing 
them  of  the  desire  of  myself  and  mother.  As  I  and  my 
history  had  become  somewhat  known  among  them, 
there  was  an  additional  motive  to  prompt  them  to  dili- 
gence in  the  matter.  And  on  the  Sabbath  she  was 
powerfully  convicted  and  convinced  of  sin,  so  that  she 
went  into  the  prayer  circle  and  wept  and  prayed.  But 
she  did  not  then  and  there  find  peace,  but  became 
fixed  in  her  determination  to  abandon  the  pleasures  of 
sin,  and  seek  for  pardoning  mercy. 

On  reaching  my  mother's  on  Monday,  an  unexpected 
storm  broke  down  upon  us.  Some  persons  who  were 
at  the  meeting  on  Sabbath  and  saw  my  sister  in  the 
prayer  ring,  saw,  also,  a  girl  of  doubtful  reputation  in 
the  same  ring  containing  probably  two  hundred  per- 
sons, though  on  the  opposite  side  of  it,  and  in  no  wise 
connected  with  her.  But  on  reaching  town  they  re- 
ported that  Betsy  was  down  with  Phene  B.  among 
the  Methodists.  This  roused  my  mother.  She  thought 
Betsy  was  ruined.     She   forgot   that  the  Savior  had 


84  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

compassion  on  a  Magdalene,  as  well  as  on  Martha  and 
Mary,  and  was  fairly  frantic  to  think  that  Betsy  had 
so  disgraced  herself,  in  her  imagination. 

In  this  state  of  things  I  attempted  to  reason  the 
case  with  her,  but  to  no  purpose.  I  finally  said, 
"Mother,  did  you  not  desire  me  to  get  Betsy  con- 
verted?" 

"Yes,  but  I  didn't  think  you  would." 

"Why,  didn't  you  mean  what  you  said?" 

"Yes,  but  I  don't  want  her  to  be  a  Methodist." 

"But  you  consented  that  she  might  be,  if  she  would 
only  be  a  Christian." 

"  I  know  I  did ;  but  she  so  disgraced  herself  by 
being  down  on  the  ground  with  that  girl." 

"But,  mother,  there  were  probably  two  hundred 
people  in  the  ring,  and  Betsy  was  on  the  opposite  side 
of  it  from  her,  and  had  no  connection,  whatever,  with 
her,  more  than  she  and  you  have  often  had,  by  sitting 
in  the  church  where  she  was.  And,  further,  she  was  not 
on  the  ground  otherwise  than  by  standing  and  kneel- 
ing.    She  did  not  fall  and  lie  helpless." 

"O!  I  thought  she  did." 

"But,  mother,  do  you  not  believe  that  God  fore- 
ordained whatsoever  comes  to  pass?" 

"Yes;  certainly  I  do." 

"Well,  do  you  believe  that  God  would  fore-ordain 
or  decree  any  thing  to  be,  contrary  to  his  will?" 

"  No  ;  certainly  not." 

"Well,  it  has  come  to  pass  that  I  and  Betsy  are 
Methodists,  and  according  to  your  views,  it  was  so  fore- 
ordained or  decreed,  and  in  accordance  with  the  Divine 
will.     Now,  will  you  oppose  the  will  of  God?" 

"Well,  I  know,"  said  she,  "that  I  am  not  submissive 
enough  to  the  will  of  God.  I  would  rather  it  had  been 
otherwise,  but  if  it  must  be  so,  it  must;  and  I'll  try  to 
submit  to  it,  the  best  I  can."    And  she  did  so,  leaving  us 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  85 

to  enjoy  ourselves  as  best  we  could.  I  have  reason  to 
believe  she  was  thankful  that  it  was  so,  before  she  died. 

But  there  was  another  trial  for  Betsy  to  come  off 
that  night.  A  rally  was  made  by  the  elite  and  jolly 
youths,  her  former  associates,  to  make  a  desperate 
effort  to  get  her  to  play  her  old  part  in  the  amuse- 
ments of  the  circle.  They  gathered  at  my  mother's  to 
accomplish  their  design,  knowing  that  if  they  could 
succeed,  it  would  cure  her  of  what  they  thought  and 
called  gloomy  Methodism.  But  they  failed  in  the 
attempt. 

She  received  the  company  with  her  usual  courtesy, 
and  treated  them  with  politeness,  but  without  a  smile. 
Her  spirit  was  too  deeply  wounded  to  trifle,  and  espe- 
cially at  such  a  critical  moment,  for  she  felt  that  her 
eternal  interests  hung  upon  the  events  of  that  hour. 

They  proposed  different  plays,  such  as  she  formerly 
delighted  in,  and  in  which  she  used  to  take  an  active 
lead,  but  to  no  purpose.  To  help  her  in  this  critical 
moment,  I  commenced  and  carried  on  a  religious  con- 
versation, rather  in  the  form  of  an  exhortation.  To 
ward  off  this,  some  of  them  began  to  controvert  my 
doctrine,  and  rather  than  fail  in  thwarting  their  pur- 
pose, I  argued  the  points  with  them. 

At  an  early  hour  they  all  left,  and  as  they  were 
passing  through  the  front  yard  to  the  gate,  I  heard  one 
of  them  say,  "Well,  Betsy's  gone;  Alfred  has  got  her 
fast  enough."  This  ended  all  their  efforts  to  pervert 
her  from  the  service  of  God.  Those  very  persons,  some 
of  whom  were  afterward  converted  to  God,  commended 
her,  after  the  first  excitement  was  over,  for  her  inte£- 
rity,  and  averred  that  her  faithfulness  in  her  religious 
course  was  an  honor  to  her  and  the  cause  of  God,  and 
contributed  greatly  to  assuage  their  prejudices,  and 
lead  them  to  seek  religion. 

She,   also,   was    betrothed    at   the    time,    and    was 


8b  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

threatened  with  abandonment,  as  was  the  young  lady 
at  Osbon's,  but  she  gave  the  same  answer,  which  was 
followed  by  similar  regrets  on  his  part,  and  similar 
attendance  at  meeting  to  gratify  his  eyes  by  a  sight  of 
her.  But  as  he  did  not  embrace  religion,  as  did  the 
other,  she  would  never  countenance  him  afterward. 
She  said  that  "a  tyrant  at  the  threshold  would  be  a 
devil  in  the  house,  and  she  would  keep  clear  of  trouble 
while  she  was  out  of  it,  if  she  could." 

In  November  following,  1810,  Betsy  was  yet  groan- 
ing to  be  set  free  from  her  sins.  She  had  endured  all 
the  persecutions  and  opprobrium  then  lavished  upon 
Methodists,  for  over  two  months,  without  the  comforts 
of  religion.  She  was  impelled  forward  only  by  a  sense 
of  her  guilt  and  danger.  But  I  wrote  her  to  meet  me 
at  Beading  at  the  quarterly-meeting,  and  she  did  so. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  the  old  town-house,  our 
place  of  worship  at  this  time,  in  that  town.  On  Sun- 
day morning  in  the  love-feast,  she  rose  and  related 
the  state  of  her  mind  and  the  distress  of  her  soul  on 
account  of  unpardoned  sin,  and  asked  the  prayers  of 
God's  people  in  her  behalf.  It  was  so  unusual  then  for 
a  penitent  thus  to  speak  in  love-feast,  that  it  attracted 
general  attention,  and  all  eyes  were  turned  toward  her, 
and  all  hearts  and  many  voices  were  raised  to  heaven 
in  her  behalf.  Before  she  had  done  speaking  the 
answer  came;  and  she  fell  back  into  a  good  sister's 
arms,  and  in  a  few  moments  was  happy  in  God. 

She  subsequently  married  Bartholomew  Weed,  who 
was  afterward  a  member  of  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ence, and  afterward  removed  to  Wisconsin,  and  settled 
in  Plattville,  where  she  died  in  peace,  in  1811.  Brother 
Weed  is  now  a  member  of  the  Newark  Conference. 

Beading  circuit  in  those  days  extended  from  Stam- 
ford to  Stratford  along  the  Sound,  and  back  into  the 
country  to  Beading,  Danbury,  Bidgefield,  New  Canaan, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  87 

etc.,  with  all  the  intermediate  places  where  they  would 
receive  Methodist  preaching.  At  Canaan  we  had  a 
small  church  on  a  side-hill.  The  front  door  was  near 
the  level  of  the  ground,  while  the  back  or  pulpit  end 
was  several  feet  high,  standing  on  columns.  In  those 
days  some  people  thought  it  smart  in  them  to  get  into 
our  love-feasts  or  class-meetings  by  stealth  or  force,  to 
see  what  was  going  on,  believing  from  reports  that  it 
was  some  devilment,  of  course,  to  make  Methodists  so 
rapidly  as  they  were  increasing  in  the  country;  and 
the  idea  of  a  meeting  with  doors  closed  against  out- 
siders, seemed  to  confirm  this  vain  imagination. 

At  a  quarterly-meeting  held  in  this  place,  as  was 
usual,  three  good  stout  men  were  placed  at  the  door 
to  keep  the  rowdies  out  of  the  love-feast.  But  one 
bravado  declared  to  his  comrades  his  intention  to  go 
in  and  see  what  was  done,  if  he  had  to  fight  for  it;  so 
he  forced  his  way  past  the  door-keepers,  who,  seeing 
the  devil  in  him,  yielded,  rather  than  have  a  fight. 

This  rowdy  went  to  the  pulpit  end  and  took  a  seat 
by  an  open  window,  his  comrades  outside  watching  to 
see  what  would  be  the  result.  The  people  gathered  in 
thick  and  fast,  and  he  was  soon  hemmed  in  on  both 
sides  by  the  devout  worshipers,  and  shortly  the  house 
was  full,  the  door  was  closed  and  barred  inside,  and  the 
three  men  stood  with  their  backs  against  it. 

In  the  mean  time  the  exercises  began  with  singing 
and  prayer.  Great  power  was  manifested  from  the 
throne  above,  and  some  were  shouting  and  clapping 
their  hands,  some  were  jumping,  and  others  falling  to 
the  floor.  This  rowdy  had  never  seen  or  heard  the 
like  before,  and  he  became  alarmed.  Strange  feelings 
came  over  him,  and  he  began  to  think  of  an  escape. 
He  looked  at  the  door,  but  there  was  the  bar,  and 
the  three  men;  he  looked  out  of  the  window,  and 
the  ground   seemed    fearfully  distant.     But  his  fright 


&8  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

increased  as  the  inside  of  the  house  grew  warmer,  and 
the  falling  and  shouting  more  frequent,  and  he  became 
frantic.  At  that  moment  one  of  the  jumpers  fell  across 
his  lap,  and  he  rose,  and  with  one  bound  went  head 
foremost  out  of  the  window,  leaving  his  hat  behind, 
and  lighting  on  the  ground  some  ten  or  twelve  feet 
from  the  window.  When  the  rowdies  outside  saw  him 
falling  to  the  ground,  they  exclaimed,  "There,  they've 
cast  out  the  devil."  Some  one  threw  his  hat  out  to 
him,  which  he  took  up,  and  made  tracks  for  what  was 
to  his  idea,  a  safer  place. 

In  my  case  a  grave  question  arose,  or  rather  some 
made  so  much  of  it  as  to  give  it  that  character,  as  to 
the  rights,  powers,  privileges,  and  prerogatives  of  an 
exhorter,  and  the  line  of  demarkation  between  ex- 
horting and  preaching.  I  could  not  exhort  without 
some  foundation  to  base  my  remarks  upon ;  and  hence, 
would  directly  or  indirectly  get  in  a  text.  This,  by 
some,  was  called  preaching,  which  I  had  no  right  to 
do  without  license. 

To  talk  without  something  to  talk  about,  or  some- 
thing to  start  an  idea  or  thought  from,  appeared  to  me 
like  building  a  pigeon  house  on  a  pole.  I  was  told  that 
I  had  the  whole  Bible  before  me  to  talk  from.  This 
was  true.  But  to  talk  helter-skelter  on  all  the  topics 
in  the  Bible,  was  too  much  like  some  preaching  I  have 
heard,  beginning  in  the  middle  and  leaving  off  at  each 
end.  To  take  up  and  explain  any  one  topic  or  point 
found  in  the  Bible,  is  to  take  a  text.  To  aim  at  every 
thing  in  general,  but  nothing  in  particular,  did  not 
suit  my  taste ;  and  if  exhorting  is  a  stepping-stone  to 
preaching,  or  if  the  Church  must  have  some  evidence 
of  gift  for  preaching  in  a  candidate,  before  it  can  ap- 
prove of  him  as  being  called  to  that  work,  how  is  he  to 
evince  this  but  by  using  a  text  in  some  way  in  his 
exhortations? 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  SO 

My  gifts,  whatever  they  may  be,  are  for  textual 
preaching — to  take  a  text,  and  explain  it.  Topical 
preaching  and  exhortation  are  so  nearly  allied  as  to 
be  inseparable.  After  much  discussion  with  preachers 
and  people,  the  grave  conclusion  was,  that  an  exhorter 
might  steal  a  text.  That  is,  he  had  no  right  to  sing  and 
pray  and  take  a  text,  giving  book,  chapter,  and  verse : 
but  might,  after  singing  and  prayer,  begin  to  introduce 
a  subject,  and  bring  in  a  text  that  he  wished  to  ex- 
plain, but  not  tell  where  it  could  be  found.  He  must 
not  divide  it  into  heads  and  points,  but  might,  topical 
fashion,  take  up  one  at  a  time,  till  he  gets  through  the 
heads  and  points  of  it.  This  looked  like  "whipping 
the  devil  round  the  stump;"  but  it  being  the  law,  I 
had  to  abide  by  it. 


CHAPTER  V. 

IN  reading  the  Bible,  and  the  history  of  the  old  proph- 
ets and  patriarchs,  no  one  seemed  to  excite  my 
sympathy  so  much  as  Jeremiah.  My  soul  seemed  to 
enter  deeply  into  his  sufferings  and  trials;  and  in  con- 
templating them,  I  thought  of  the  great  reward  that 
awaited  him  in  heaven.  As  a  child,  in  the  simplicity 
of  my  soul,  and  without  weighing  or  thinking  of  the 
consequences,  but,  like  Moses,  "having  respect  to  the 
recompense  of  reward,"  I  thought  I  would  rather  be 
like  him  in  suffering  and  trials,  than  any  other  of  his 
class  that  I  read  of,  so  that  I  might  receive  the  reward 
that  I  presumed  he  must  have  attained  to.  But  I  lit- 
tle thought  that  I  should  come  so  near  him  as  I  have 
in  trials  of  the  mind.  I  have  not  been  imprisoned  as 
he  was.  But  I  could  not  have  suffered  more  in  mind, 
if  I  had  been;  and  from  the  hinderances,  discourage- 

8 


90  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

mcnts,  repulses,  and  bluffing  off,  that  I  have  met  with, 
I  deem  it  not  arrogance  to  think  and  say  that  my  ex- 
perience places  me,  in  a  low  scale,  in  the  class  to  which 
that  prophet  belongs.  And  when  I  get  to  heaven,  as 
I  expect  to  do,  I  think  I  shall  look  up  Jeremiah,  and 
join  him  in  praising  God  for  sustaining  grace  in  the 
trials  of  this  life. 

I  had  by  this  time  learned  that  most  of  our  preach- 
ers had  been  once  or  more  backslidden  from  God  be- 
cause they  disobeyed,  like  Jonah,  the  call  of  God  to 
the  ministry.  And  when  I  heard  them  tell  of  the  risks 
which  they  ran  of  utter  ruin ;  of  the  heavy  chastening 
providences  that  fell  upon  them  before  they  would 
yield  to  obey  God,  I  felt  thankful  that  I  had  "  never 
been  disobedient  to  the  heavenly  vision  "  in  this  mat- 
ter, but  yielded  at  once  to  do  what  God  had  enjoined 
upon  me. 

But  this  willingness  to  do  my  duty  was  construed 
into  forwardness  and  the  offspring  of  self-conceit ;  this, 
too,  by  those  very  men  who  had  been  rebellious,  had 
been  chastised  for  it,  and  now  professed  great  regrets  that 
they  had  not,  like  Paul,  obeyed  "  the  heavenly  vision." 
Alas,  for  poor  human  nature ;  to  condemn  one  for  doing 
just  what  they  ought  to  have  done,  and  what  they  now 
profess  deeply  to  regret  that  they  did  not  do!  But 
they  felt  it  to  be  their  duty  to  check  and  curb  me,  lest, 
as  they  thought,  I  should  run  too  fast.  I  do  not  say 
that  there  was  no  danger  of  too  fast  running,  in  one  of 
my  natural  temperament.  But  I  think  there  is  a  differ- 
ence between  gently  curbing  the  spirited  steed,  and 
knocking  him  down;  between  curing  and  killing. 

In  the  Fall  of  1810,  Nathan  Emery  being  on  the  cir- 
cuit, a  young  man  by  the  name  of  Wakeman  Penfield, 
one  of  our  neighbors,  being  on  a  visit  to  Green's  farms, 
was  induced  to  hear  Emery,  on  this  wise,  and  with  the 
following  results : 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  91 

Young  Penfield  had  not  been  at  the  farms  for  a  year 
or  so ;  in  which  time  a  gracious  revival  of  religion  had 
occurred,  and  a  large  class  of  Methodists  had  grown 
up,  embracing  many  of  his  old  acquaintances.  Not 
knowing  of  this,  and  expecting  to  meet  the  young  peo- 
ple in  youthful  glee,  on  seeing  a  young  man  going 
past  the  door  where  he  had  stopped,  he  inquired  where 
he  was  going  to  spend  the  evening. 

"I  am  ^oin£  to  meeting." 

"Meeting!  what  meeting?" 

"Why,  Methodist  meeting." 

"Well,  I'll  go  too,  for  I  never  heard  a  Methodist  in 
my  life." 

"  Well,  come  along."  He  did  so,  and  was  awakened. 
This  changed  the  tone  of  his  feelings,  and  changed  all 
his  purposes  of  amusement.  He  followed  the  preacher 
the  next  night  to  Osbon's,  at  Green  field,  and  the  next 
day  being  Saturday,  he  went  home,  and  Sunday  morn- 
ing went  to  Lee's  Chapel,  to  hear  Emery  again,  and 
invited  him  to  visit  his  mother  and  family  on  Monday, 
his  father  being  absent  while  on  his  way  to  Wells's  for 
that  night,  where  I  first  met  with  him. 

Penfield  had  told  his  mother  and  sisters  of  the 
expected  visit  from  the  Methodist  preacher  on  Monday, 
and  of  his  own  awakening,  and  determination  to  seek 
religion.  All  the  family  treated  the  matter  respect- 
fully except  one  sister  of  thirteen,  who  rigged  herself  out 
in  the  most  gorgeous  style  she  could,  with  curls,  ribbons, 
and  ruffles,  and  went  tiddling-diddling  about  the  house, 
as  if  possessed.  And  every  time  she  met  her  brother, 
she  inquired  about  his  Methodist  priest.  As  soon  as 
the  preacher  appeared  her  countenance  fell;  his  appear- 
ance seemed  to  strike  her  under  conviction ;  and  as 
soon  as  possible,  after  the  introduction,  she  slipped 
away  to  her  room  and  laid  aside  her  ribbons  and  ruf- 
fles, and  combed  back  her  curls,  and  returned  to  the 


92  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

room  as  grave  and  serious  as  was  her  brother.  She 
knew  nothing  of  Methodism  then,  or  of  its  rules  and 
usages;  but  the  Good  Spirit  that  had  reached  her  heart 
led  her  to  this  plainness  of  apparel. 

Superfluities  in  dress  were  then  unknown  among 
Methodists,  and  they  could  be  known  by  their  dress  as 
far  as  they  could  be  seen,  as  easily  as  Quakers.  It  was 
a  common  occurrence,  as  in  this  case,  for  a  convicted 
sinner  to  throw  off  all  golden  ornaments,  ribbons  and 
ruffles,  and  comb  back  her  curls  as  soon  as  conviction 
of  sin  reached  the  heart.  So  true  it  is,  in  the  language 
of  our  General  Rules,  after  requiring  the  laying  aside  of 
all  these  things:  "All  these  [rules]  we  know  hie  Spirit 
writes  on  truly  awakened  hearts."  The  preacher  talked 
to  all  the  family,  and  prayed  with  them,  and  after 
dinner  left  them  for  his  appointment. 

That  night  Wakeman  and  his  sister  were  at  our 
meeting  at  Wells's,  and  made  themselves  known  as 
penitents,  seeking  the  Savior.  Though  they  lived 
within  three  miles  of  our  place  of  meeting,  none  of  the 
family  had  ever  been  there,  nor  to  a  Methodist  meeting 
anywhere,  until  the  Thursday  night  previous,  as  above 
stated. 

Like  most  true  penitents  of  those  times,  young 
Penfield  was  in  earnest,  and  sought  all  the  helps  he 
could  to  aid  and  strengthen  him  in  the  pursuit  of  sal- 
vation. To  this  end  he  invited  me  to  visit  him  and 
the  family  the  ensuing  Saturday  night.  He  met  me  on 
the  road,  and  informed  me  that  the  people  were  up  in 
arms  at  the  change  that  had  come  over  the  family. 
~No  concern  had  been  manifested  for  them  while  they 
were  all  going  on  in  sin  ;  but  now  there  was  great 
alarm  lest  they  should  be  deceived  by  the  Methodists. 
His  mother  had  been  visited  by  some  of  the  sedate 
"standing  order,"  as  the  Congregationalists  were  then 
called  in  New  England,  who  told  her  that  the  Methodists 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  93 

were  the  deceivers  of  the  last  times,  and  would,  if 
possible,  deceive  the  very  elect;  that  they  were  even 
worse  and  more  dangerous  than  the  Universalists. 
Her  mind  had  become  so  excited  with  alarm  that  she 
had  forbid  his  sisters  going  to  Methodist  meetings  till 
their  father  came  home,  when  he  could  do  as  he  pleased 
in  the  matter.  He  also  informed  me  of  the  points  of 
doctrine  that  had  been  laid  to  our  charge,  such  as 
going  to  heaven  by  our  own  works,  etc. 

The  family  received  me  courteously,  and  we  were 
soon  seated  and  in  conversation  on  Methodism.  I  ex- 
plained, as  well  as  I  could,  our  doctrines,  showing  how 
and  wherein  they  differed  from  Calvinism  and  Univer- 
sal ism,  and  especially  repudiating  the  false  doctrines  that 
were  laid  to  our  charge.  But  I  dwelt  mostly  on  ex- 
perimental religion,  its  nature,  its  necessity,  its  comforts 
and  happiness,  and  the  means  instituted  of  God  for  its 
attainment,  especially  faith,  instead  of  works;  showing, 
however,  that  works  of  obedience  were  evidence  of,  and 
sprang  from  faith.  Mrs.  Pen  field  stated  frankly  all 
the  points  that  had  troubled  her  mind,  which  I  was 
enabled  so  to  explain  as  to  remove  all  her  difficulties. 
The  next  morning  she  consented  that  all,  her  two  sons 
and  three  daughters,  might  go  to  meeting,  and  at  night 
she  came  herself,  and  both  she  and  her  five  children 
were  soon  converted  to  God  and  made  happy  in  his  love. 

Some  two  or  three  weeks  after  this  interview — 
which  htid  been  weekly  renewed  at  their  request — at 
our  Sunday  night  meeting,  I  felt  my  mind  drawn  out 
particularly  to  exhort  old  gray-headed  sinners.  I  felt 
the  delicacy  of  such  a  course  in  one  so  young,  and 
apologized  to  the  aged  for  so  doing;  but  assured  them 
that  I  felt  drawn  out  by  the  Good  Spirit,  and  if  God 
perfected  praise  by  the  mouths  of  babes  and  sucklings, 
it  might  be  that  if  I  held  my  peace  the  stones  would 
cry  out  against  me.     At  the  close  of  the  meeting  young 


94  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Penfield  introduced  me  to  his  father.  At  a  glance  I 
saw  his  gray  hairs,  and  a  tremor  passed  over  me,  as 
I  thought  of  my  exhortation ;  doubting  whether  or  not 
I  had  given  offense.  But  in  this,  as  in  thousands  of 
other  cases,  the  motto  proved  to  be  true,  "  Speak  the 
truth  boldly,  and  leave  consequences  with  God ;"  for 
while  he  had  yet  hold  of  my  hand,  the  tear  starting 
from  his  eyes,  he  said  :  "  I  am  one  of  those  gray-headed 
sinners  you  have  been  talking  to.  I  got  home  this 
morning  after  the  children  had  gone  to  meeting,  and 
was  glad  to  hear  what  God  is  doing  for  my  family,  and 
hope  I  shall  share  with  them  in  the  blessings  of  the 
Lord.  I  intend  to  try.  This  is  the  first  Methodist 
meeting  I  ever  attended,  and  must  say  that  I  believe 
God  is  with  you,  for  I  feel  it."  I  never  had  such  sen- 
sations of  mind;  I  felt  humbled  to  think  that  God  had 
made  use  of  me  for  such  good ;  and  I  rejoiced  in  my 
soul  to  see  sinners  coming  home  to  God.  He  invited 
me  to  continue  my  visits  to  his  family,  and  finally  to 
appoint  a  meeting  at  his  house. 

The  time  had  run  on  through  the  "Winter,  and  a 
gracious  work  of  God  had  added  about  thirty  to  our 
class;  and  in  the  Spring  of  1811  brother  Penfield  re- 
quested me  to  appoint  a  meeting  at  his  house.  I  did 
so.  The  news  of  this  flew  over  the  country,  and  some 
of  our  good  Methodist  brethren  were  alarmed  lest  the 
boy  should  fail  to  sustain  the  honor  of  Methodism  at 
this  advanced  post  of  our  Zion. 

That  the  reason  for  these  fears  may  be  understood, 
it  is  proper  to  state  that  brother  Penfield's  house  was 
some  three  miles  in  advance  toward  the  old  town  of 
Fairfield,  into  which  Methodism  had  not  yet  gained  a 
foothold,  though  we  were  gathering  round  it.  High 
prejudices  existed  against  us  there,  and  the  brethren 
feared  that  if  I  made  a  failure,  those  prejudices  would 
be  stronger. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  95 

It  so  happened  that  Oliver  Sykes  and  another 
preacher,  on  their  way  to  Conference  in  New  York, 
called  for  the  night  at  a  brother's  in  Stratford.  The 
good  brother,  in  his  zeal  for  the  honor  of  our  cause, 
induced  the  two  preachers,  after  tea,  to  ride  seven  miles 
to  Penfield's,  to  preach,  and  if  not  invited  to  stay  all 
night,  to  return,  and  retrace  the  seven  miles  the  next 
morning,  on  their  way  to  New  York.  Of  course,  I  was 
glad  to  see  them  and  hear  them. 

Brother  Sykes  preached  an  excellent  sermon,  and 
his  traveling  companion  gave  a  rousing  exhortation, 
and  the  people  seemed  to  be  edified,  and  well  pleased ; 
many  of  them  having  never  heard  a  Methodist  before. 
The  preachers  were  invited  to  stay  for  the  night,  and 
the  occurrence  was  the  means  of  great  good  to  the 
family.  Brother  Penfield  often  said  to  me,  afterward, 
quoting  our  Lord's  words  to  his  disciples,  when  they 
went  out  on  their  first  mission,  "If  the  son  of  peace  be 
there,  your  peace  shall  abide  upon  the  house ;"  "  and," 
he  said,  "the  son  of  peace  evidently  abode  upon  his 
house  from  that  time,  and,  indeed,  from  the  beginning 
of  this  work." 

The  usual  hue  and  cry  was  raised  about  Penfield's 
being  "  eaten  out  of  house  and  home  "  by  the  Methodists ; 
this,  too,  by  persons  who  had  made  their  visits  to  his 
house  more  expensive  than  the  Methodists  did.  After 
about  a  year,  I  asked  him  what  effect  his  embracing  re- 
ligion had  had  uj:>on  his  temporal  affairs.  He  said  it  had 
been  favorable.  "I  have,"  said  he,  "  a  good  deal  of  com- 
pany,  but  it  is  less  expensive  than  the  company  I  had  be- 
fore. My  situation,  as  you  see,  is  beautiful ;  from  my  door 
I  can  see  Long  Island  Sound,  the  beautiful  landscapes  on 
the  lower  lands  toward  the  Sound,  and  parts  of  Fair- 
field, and  Black  Eock,  and  Bridgeport ;  and  the  gentry 
of  those  towns,  and  especially  Fairfield,  frequently  rode 
up  the  hill  to  see  me  and  my  family,  to  get  a  view  of 


96  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  scenery  before  us,  and  take  tea.  Scarcely  a  week 
passed  without  one  or  more  such  visits  occurring,  and 
the  table  must  be  spread  suitably  to  their  and  my  po- 
sition in  society.  But  when  the  Methodists  came,  these 
expensive  visitors  desisted;  and  our  Methodist  friends 
are  content  with  our  common  fare,  and  being  no  more 
in  number,  but  less  expensive,  I  have  made  more  money 
in  the  past  year  than  in  any  previous  one." 

About  this  time  I  heard  of  an  occurrence  on  Long 
Island,  illustrative  of  this  eating  of  Methodists  out  of 
house  and  home.  A  man  was  converted,  and  joined 
the  Methodists,  and  opened  his  house  for  preaching, 
where  the  Methodists  put  up  when  going  to  and  from 
camp  or  quarterly  meetings — called,  in  those  days,  "a 
Methodist  tavern."  The  father  of  this  good  brother 
often  upbraided  him  for  this  course,  averring  that  he 
would  soon  be  eaten  out  of  house  and  home,  and  would 
have  to  come  back  and  work  some  part  of  his  farm 
upon  shares,  to  get  a  living. 

The  son  replied,  "  O,  no,  father,  I  think  not ;  I  do  not 
sec  any  diminution  of  my  means,  but  rather  an  increase." 

Things  went  on  in  this  way  for  a  year  or  two, 
when,  one  Spring,  the  father  said  to  the  son,  "I  don't 
know  what  I  shall  do  for  hay,  to  bring  my  stock 
through  to  grass-time." 

"Why,  father,  how  much  will  you  want?" 

"I  shall  need  a  ton,  at  least." 

"Well,  father,  I  think  I  can  spare  that  amount,  and, 
it  may  be,  more." 

"Wh}',  how  is  that?  You  have  no  more  meadows 
than  I  have,  and  you  have  as  many  cattle,  and,  besides 
that,  a  great  deal  of  company.  How  comes  it  that  you 
have  hay  to  spare?" 

"Why,  father,  the  Methodist  preachers  come  to  my 
house  with  their  horses;  they  make  manure;  I  put  that 
on  the  land,  and  that  makes  the  grass  grow." 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  97 

This  put  an  end  to  the  father's  fears  as  to  his  son's 
coming  to  want  on  that  score. 

I  knew,  also,  a  good  brother  Hill,  in  Beading,  who 
was  left  with  a  large  estate,  by  his  father,  but  had  run 
through  with  it  all  but  about  four  hundred  dollars,  by 
high  living  and  sporting.  He  was  converted,  and  be- 
came a  new  man  and  pursued  a  new  course  of  life. 
He  became  industrious  and  economical,  yet  liberal  in 
the  support  of  the  Gospel.  At  quarterly-meetings,  his 
rule  was  to  let  all  the  other  brethren  take  home  with 
them  as  many  friends  as  they  could  accommodate,  and 
then  he  would  say  to  all  that  were  left,  "Follow  me." 
I  have  stayed  at  his  house,  at  such  meetings,  when  he 
had  forty  guests  to  care  for;  yet,  in  four  years'  time, 
he  had  paid  off  all  the  debts  he  had  contracted  when 
in  sin;  had  added  to  his  real  estate,  and  had  an  income 
from  his  business  of  some  eight  hundred  dollars  per 
annum,  over  and  above  family  expenses. 

In  the  Spring  of  1811  I  felt  it  to  be  my  duty  to  give 
m}'self  entirely  to  the  work  to  which  God  had  called 
me.  1  was  aware  of  my  youth,  being  only  eighteen 
years  of  age.  I  was  also  aware  of  my  want  of  more 
knowledge,  wisdom,  and  experience;  but,  if  received,  I 
expected  to  be  sent  to  fields  suitable  to  my  case;  and, 
having  a  thirst  for  reading,  and  being  of  studious  hab- 
its, I  thought  I  could  gain  in  knowledge,  as  others  had 
done  before  me.  But,  aside  from  every  other  consider- 
ation, there  was  a  conviction  that  I  should  go. 

In  this  state  of  feeling  I  had  no  other  thought  than 
if  God  called,  my  brethren  would  aid  me  in  the  matter. 
I  applied  to  Nathan  Emery,  the  preacher  in  charge,  to 
take  the  necessary  steps  for  me  to  join  the  Conference. 
But,  instead  of  meeting  with  fatherly  advice  and  coun- 
sel, if  I  was  too  fast,  as  alleged,  I  met  with  a  positive 
rebuff,  embraced  in  the  word  "  No.  You  are  too  young; 
the  Conference  won't  have  you  !" 

y 


98  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

I  did  suppose  that  willingness  to  do  a  duty  enjoined 
was  commendable,  and  that,  though  it  might  need 
the  guidance  of  a  skillful  and  fatherly  hand,  godly 
counsel  would  put  the  thing  in  a  right  train.  But 
bluffing  off  a  youth  whose  whole  soul  was  devoted  to 
God,  and  who  had  given  up  high  and  ambitious  worldly 
projects,  to  lead  a  life  of  privation  and  toil  for  the  sake 
of  Christ,  and  the  salvation  of  souls,  was  entirely  unex- 
pected, and  unlocked  for.  Jeremiah  could  not  have 
felt  worse  when  rejected  by  the  priests  and  people  of 
Israel,  nor  when  in  prison. 

The  result  was,  that  before  I  was  aware  of  it,  dis- 
couragement settled  down  in  my  heart;  I  lost  the  evi- 
dence of  perfect  love,  and  doubts  occurred  as  to  my  call 
to  the  ministry;  and  had  not  that  call  been  accompa- 
nied by  circumstances  so  extraordinary,  so  near  mirac- 
ulous, I  should  have  given  it  up,  if  not  religion,  too. 
I  turned  my  thoughts  toward  the  former  project  of  life, 
the  law,  but  darkness,  thick  darkness,  rested  upon  it; 
and,  as  "hope  deferred  makes  the  heart  sick,"  I  was  on 
the  verge  of  despair. 

I  was  told  that  "the  spirits  of  the  projmets  were 
subject  to  the  prophets."  When  the  prophets  enjoined 
silence  upon  Jeremiah,  he  still  prophesied;  and  it  ap- 
peared to  me  that  the  prophets  should  act  in  accordance 
with  the  Divine  call,  or  Divine  will,  or  such  subjection 
should  not  be  required;  but  in  this  case,  one  of  us,  at 
least,  must  have  deviated  from  the  Divine  will;  and 
whether  it  was  myself  or  not,  the  weaker  had  to  submit 
to  the  stronger,  and  I  must  give  up  all  hope  of  getting 
into  the  itinerancy  very  soon,  if  I  ever  should. 

I  had  not  the  vanity  to  think  that  I  could  go  alone, 
or  without  the  Church.  Nor  could  I  think  of  chang- 
ing my  Church  relationship.  I  was  then,  and  still  am, 
a  Methodist,  and  could  be  nothing  else.  If  I  preached 
at  all,  it  must  be  as  a  Methodist,  and  must  wait  till  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  99 

way  opened  for  me  in  the  Church  in  which  I  was  con- 
verted and  called  of  God.  But  seeing  no  prospects  of 
such  opening  for  years  to  come,  nor  receiving  any  com- 
fort or  encouragement  from  the  preachers,  I  gave  up 
all  hope  in  that  direction,  and  laid  my  plans  for  busi- 
ness of  a  worldly  nature.  As  the  nature  of  my  business, 
my  trade,  required  a  helpmeet,  I  married,  August  20, 
1811,  Eunice  Burr,  daughter  of  Jesse  and  Sarah  Burr, 
of  that  part  of  Fairfield,  Conn.,  which  fell  into  Strat- 
field  parish,  near  Bridgeport.  She  was  a  third  or  fourth 
cousin  of  Aaron  Burr ;  but  owing  to  the  course  he  pur- 
sued, in  his  treasonable  enterprise,  I  never  inquired 
into  the  exact  relationship,  not  caring  to  own  it.  She 
was  converted  through  my  instrumentality,  previous  to 
our  marriage. 

But  this  step  brought  down  the  brakes  upon  the 
wheels  of  my  car  stronger  than  ever.  Married  men, 
in  those  days,  received  no  favor  in  the  itinerancy.  No 
young  man  was  allowed  to  many  under  four  years  after 
he  was  received  on  trial  in  the  itinerancy,  without  cen- 
sure; and  if  he  did  so  within  the  first  two  years,  the 
term  of  his  probation,  he  was  discontinued  without 
ceremony. 

I  entered  into  business  to  make  stock -work  for  the 
New  York  market;  but  was  doomed  to  be  thwarted 
in  this.  Trouble  with  England  had  been  brewing  for 
some  time,  and  commerce  and  trade  on  the  high  seas 
were  greatly  retarded  by  the  frequent  capture  of  our 
vessels,  and  the  impressment  of  our  seamen;  and,  pre- 
paratory for  "the  ulterior  resort  of  kings,"  an  em- 
bargo was  laid  on  all  shipping  in  the  United  States, 
to  prevent  its  falling  into  the  hands  of  the  enemy  in 
case  of  war.  This  was  followed,  June  18,  1812,  by  a 
declaration  of  war  against  Great  Britain  and  her  de- 
pendencies. 

Our  Lord  said,  "  Seek  first  the  kingdom  of  God  and 


100  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 

his  righteousness,  and  all  these  things  [meaning  food 
and  raiment]  shall  be  added  unto  you."  This  promise 
I  had  understood  in  the  literal  sense,  and  myself  and 
wife  having  sought  this  kingdom,  we  took  it  for  granted 
that  our  industry  and  economy  would  insure  the  other. 
But  the  war  destroyed  my  business,  and  things  looked 
extremely  gloomy,  as  to  the  means  of  a  living.  Being 
a  sailor  in  my  boyhood,  I  concluded  to  try  the  naval 
service  in  defense  of  my  country,  and  was  on  the  eve 
of  starting  to  New  York  for  that  purpose. 

But  just  then  an  opening  appeared  before  me  to 
move  to  the  West,  and  I  embraced  it,  as  providential. 
The  month  of  October,  1812,  found  me  in  Fowler,  Trum- 
bull county,  Ohio,  settled  on  a  piece  of  heavily  timbered 
land,  out  of  which  I  was  to  procure  a  living.  This 
was  rather  a  gloomy  prospect.  But  with  a  strong  res- 
olution I  went  to  work.  It  was  necessary  for  me  to 
work  at  my  trade  part  of  the  time,  to  get  means  to 
sustain  me  while  clearing  the  land,  and  1  did  so. 

The  distance  from  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  to  the 
place  of  my  settlement,  was  about  six  hundred  miles. 
Our  mode  of  travel  was  of  the  antiquated  style ;  in 
a  wagon,  carrying  our  own  clothing,  bedding,  and 
provisions,  and  cooking  for  ourselves,  and  spreading 
our  beds  on  the  floor  of  the  tavern  or  other  house  at 
which  we  might  stop  for  the  night.  We  took  a  differ- 
ent route  from  that  usually  traveled,  to  shorten  the  dis- 
tance, and  obtain  cheaper  fare;  but  we  had  a  worse 
road,  the  most  of  the  way.  We  passed  through  New 
York  city,  Easton,  Berwick,  Youngman's  Town,  Blair's 
Gap  in  the  Alleghanies,  Kittaning,  and  Mercer,  in 
Pennsylvania,  entering  Ohio  in  about  six  miles  from  our 
new  home.  We  were  three  weeks  on  the  journey ;  up- 
set once,  and  stuck  in  the  mud  several  times,  but 
finally  got  through  safe  and  well. 

As  I  was  about  to  leave  Connecticut,  a  good  sister 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  101 

said  to  me:  "  You  have  need  of  a  great  deal  of  religion, 
in  going  to  a  new  country." 

"Why  shall  I  need  more  there  than  here?"  I  in- 
quired. 

"Why,  you  will  have  new  trials;  many  and  great 
privations;  less  religious  privileges;  new  scenes  to  at- 
tract, and  new  enterprises  to  engage  your  attention  : 
all  of  which  will  so  engross  yonr  thoughts  and  atten- 
tion, that  unless  you  watch  and  pray  much,  you  will 
find  yourself  involved  in  cares,  perplexities,  and  troub- 
les, and  on  the  background  in  religion,  if  you  don't 
entirely  backslide."  All  which  I  found  to  be  true,  not 
only  in  myself — though  I  did  not  entirely  backslide 
as  did  thousands  of  others,  who  went  entirely  by  the 
board,  in  the  vast  West. 

In  a  few  days  after  our  arrival,  a  good  brother, 
hearing  of  the  arrival  of  a  Methodist  family,  did  as  all 
good  people  ought  to  do,  came  to  see  me,  and  informed 
me  of  the  places  of  preaching,  and  offered,  on  the  en- 
suing Sabbath,  to  come  out  of  his  way  to  guide  us  to 
the  place  of  worship.  This  place  was  six  miles  off,  and 
we  gladly  embraced  the  kind  offer,  and  went  to  hear 
the  Rev.  James  M  Mahon,  who,  with  his  brother  John, 
then  rode  the  circuit;  a  six  weeks'  circuit  with  preach- 
ing once  in  three  weeks  at  each  place,  by  one  of  them. 
But  the  class  to  which  our  friend  belonged,  was  Brook- 
field,  six  miles  from  us  in  another  direction;  to  this 
we  presented  our  certificates,  and  became  members. 
We  soon  disposed  of  our  horses,  and  had  to  travel  this 
distance  on  foot,  every  Sabbath,  to  prayer-meetings 
and  class,  and  for  preaching  on  week-days.  The  next 
season,  having  a  babe,  we  carried  it  in  our  arms,  on 
foot,  the  six  miles  and  back,  and  were  glad  thus  to 
have  the  privilege  of  worshiping  God,  even  in  a  log- 
cabin. 

This  circuit  then  embraced  (1812)  all  of  the  Con- 


102  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

necticut  Western  Reserve,  cast  of  the  Cuyahoga  River 
that  was  settled. 

James  M'Mahon  was  a  man  of  high  standing,  in 
point  of  talent,  an  able  preacher,  very  gentlemanly  in 
his  manner,  and  very  much  respected.  But  John, 
though  of  superior  pulpit  powers,  was  the  exact  oppo- 
site of  James  in  all  other  particulars.  His  eccentricities 
though  they  appeared  to  be  natural,  were  apparently 
indulged  in,  which  led  him  into  gross  improprieties, 
which  was  an  injury  to  our  cause  among  the  sedate 
and  grave  Yankees. 

He  was  a  hypochondriac  of  the  deepest  dye.  At  one 
time,  at  Hudson,  on  his  circuit,  he  imagined  he  was 
dying,  and  wanted  brother  Gailord,  with  whom  he 
lodged,  to  send  across  the  circuit,  some  sixty  miles,  for 
his  brother  James  to  come  and  preach  his  funeral  ser- 
mon; alleging  that  if  the  messenger  did  not  go  then, 
he  could  not  possibly  get  James  there  in  time,  as  he 
should  not,  at  the  farthest,  live  longer  than  the  next 
day,  and  should  probably  die  before  night. 

But  Gailord,  knowing  his  notions  in  such  cases, 
declined  to  send,  assuring  him  that  he  would  be  well 
enough  the  next  day.  Upon  this  he  upbraided  Gai- 
lord with  being  cruel  and  hard-hearted,  unchristian 
and  inhuman.  But  if  he  would-not  do  that  much  for 
him,  he  wished  him  to  send  for  a  doctor.  But  this, 
also,  was  declined,  when  another  tirade  of  hard  names 
came  down  upon  him,  for  letting  a  man  die  in  his 
house,  and  refusing  even  to  send  for  a  doctor. 

To  appease  him  they  sent  a  boy  for  the  doctor,  or, 
at  least,  so  alleged.  In  the  mean  time,  John  was  walk- 
ing the  floor,  feeling  his  pulse,  and  gazing  in  the  glass, 
at  his  pale  face.  But  casting  his  eyes  out  of  the  win- 
dow, he  saw  the  boy  playing  with  some  others  on  the 
public  square,  when  he  exclaimed,  "  There,  that  boy  has 
gone  to  play,  and  is  not  going  for  the  doctor  at  all," 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  103 

and  feeling  his  indignation  rise,  said  he  would  go  him- 
self, and  suiting  the  action  to  the  word,  he  took  his 
hat  and  started  on  a  run.  By  the  time  he  reached 
the  boys,  his  blood  was  in  good  motion,  and  like  the 
boy,  also,  he  stopped  and  went  to  play  with  them. 

In  the  same  year  he  was  at  Isaac  Powers',  in 
Youngstown,  when  a  fit  of  this  horrible  disease  came 
upon  him.  He  could  not  eat,  and  got  the  good  sister  to 
spread  a  bed  for  him  on  the  floor  before  the  fire.  In  the 
morning  when  Powers  got  up  to  make  a  fire,  he  ordered 
John  to  get  up,  and  not  be  lying  there  like  a  dog.  He 
said  this  to  rouse  him,  knowing  that  it  would  cure  him. 
But  John  only  groaned  as  if  it  was  his  last ;  and  getting 
up  he  seated  himself  by  the  jamb  of  the  big  old-fash- 
ioned fire-place,  and  desired  Powers,  if  he  should  see 
any  body  going  toward  Poland,  the  place  of  his  next 
appointment,  to  send  word  that  he  could  not  be  there, 
as  he  was  very  sick. 

When,  breakfast  was  ready  he  had  not  washed,  and 
there  was  no  water  up  from  the  spring.  Powers  took 
the  pail  and  handed  it  to  John  and  told  him  to  go  down 
to  the  spring  and  wash  below  it,  and  bring  up  a  pail 
of  water.  John  turned  up  his  eyes  imploringly,  when 
Powers  put  on  all  the  austerity  he  could,  and  with  a 
stamp  of  the  foot  said,  "  Go  along."  This  roused  John, 
and  he  went  and  did  as  told,  and  came  back  laughing,  and 
said,  "Brother  Powers,  I  thank  you  for  that,"  and  being 
cured,  ate  his  breakfast  and  went  to  his  appointment. 

At  another  time,  at  Cadiz,  Ohio,  he  had  a  fit  of  the 
hypochondria  come  on  him,  and  said  he  must  die. 
He  went  through  the  usual  farce  of  looking  in  the 
glass,  and  lay  down,  feeling  his  pulse,  etc.,  when  a 
preacher  sitting  by  his  side — every  other  means  having 
failed  to  rouse  him — seeing  a  marble-yard  and  tomb- 
stones across  the  way,  said,  "  Brother  John,  if  you  are 
really  going  to  die,  would  n't  it  be  a  good  idea  for  you 


104  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

to  go  across  the  way  and  select  a  tombstone,  such  as 
you  would  like  to  have  at  your  grave?"  The  idea 
was  so  ludicrous  that  John  burst  into  a  hearty  laugh, 
and  sj)rang  to  his  feet  cured,  for  that  time. 

After  traveling  a  poor  circuit  where  he  could  get 
no  clothes,  on  his  way  to  Conference  in  mere  rags,  he 
called  at  Steubenville,  where  he  was  invited  to  preach. 
His  fame  as  a  pulpit  orator  having  preceded  him,  a 
large  crowd  assembled  in  the  court-house  to  hear.  He 
commenced  by  acting  the  clown.  A  gentleman  who 
became  disgusted,  inquired  of  one  by  his  side,  "Is  that 
the  great  M'Mahon?  If  so,  I  have  got  enough  of  him;" 
and  rose  to  leave.  John  seeing  this,  threw  off  the 
mask  and  said,  "Stop;  I  have  something  to  tell  you." 
At  this,  the  gentleman  resumed  bis  seat,  and  John 
gave  them  such  a  torrent  of  eloquence,  that  all  were 
astonished  and  delighted.  At  the  close,  several  gen- 
tlemen gathered  about  the  door  and  inquired  of  a 
Methodist  if  those  were  the  best  clothes  he  had;  "Yes," 
was  the  reply,  "and  all  he  has.  He  traveled  a  poor 
circuit  on  the  frontier,  where  the  people  had  nothing 
to  give  him." 

"Would  he  be  offended  if  we  should  give  him  a 
suit  of  clothes?" 

"No,  I  think  not;  but  would  be  thankful  for  them." 

In  the  mean  time,  John,  seeing  the  group  at  the 
door,  and  suspecting  that  he  was  the  subject  of  con- 
versation, had  left  the  stand,  and  got  round  behind  the 
door  to  listen,  and  on  hearing  the  inquiry  about  the 
clothes,  spoke  out,  "Try  me,  and  see  if  I  would  be 
offended."  The  result  was  he  got  the  new  suit  before 
he  left  town,  and  went  to  Conference  as  well  dressed 
as  his  better-paid  brethren. 

In  his  freaks  he  was  very  troublesome  about  his 
food,  and  people  made  loud  complaints.  And  some- 
times when  he  ventured  into  the  kitchen,  interfering 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  105 

with  the  r'ghts  and  prerogatives  of  the  cook,  he  would 
leave  it  with  a  dishcloth  hanging  to  his  coat,  behind, 
on  a  crooked  pin.  Sometimes  he  would  take  a  notion 
that  some  particular  woman  alone  could  make  coffee, 
or  mush,  or  some  other  article  of  food,  to  suit  his  taste, 
and  would  ride  ten  or  twelve  miles  across  his  circuit, 
and  out  of  his  way,  and  without  eating  after  meeting, 
to  get  that  woman  to  prepare  for  him  the  savory  meal, 
whatever  it  might  be. 

On  one  such  occasion,  he  came  to  a  house  just  at 
dark,  and  must  have  some  mush,  or  Yankee  hasty- 
pudding,  made  of  corn  meal.  One  of  the  girls  went  to 
the  spring  for  water,  and  it  was  thought,  not  in  the 
best  humor,  and  in  dipping  it  up,  took  in  a  little  spring 
frog,  which  went  into  the  pot,  and  was  not  discovered 
till  after  it  came  on  to  the  table,  with  the  milk,  with 
which  it  was  to  be  eaten,  nor  till  he  had  about  done 
eating. 

At  the  next  Conference  a  young  man  of  some  prom- 
ise, but  who  was  falling  into  the  same  kind  of  trouble- 
some whims  about  food,  was  reported,  in  the  annual 
examination  of  character,  as  being  troublesome  about 
his  food;  making  people  much  trouble,  of  which  they 
complained.  At  this  Bishop  M'Kendree  said  to  him, 
" "What  is  this  I  hear  about  you?  Don't  you  know  that 
you  should  eat  such  things  as  are  set  before  you.  ask- 
ing no  questions  for  conscience'  sake?"  At  this  John 
sprang  to  his  feet..  He  knew  that  if  the  young  man 
got  a  combing  for  this  habit,  he  would  have  to  take  it 
next.  And  if  he  could  tear  down  the  fence  far  enough 
for  the  young  man  to  escape,  he  could  also  go  out  of 
the  same  gap;  so  he  exclaimed,  "Conscience'  sake; 
conscience'  sake!  We  must  eat  this,  and  we  must  eat 
that,  for  conscience'  sake!  A  good  woman,  the  other 
night,  set  some  mush  before  me  with  a  frog  in  it;  must 
I  eat  that  for  conscience'  sake  ?" 


106  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

This  was  too  much  for  the  risibles  of  the  Confer- 
ence, who  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter,  and  the  young 
man,  and  John  with  him,  escaped  for  that  time.  Some 
years  after,  while  traveling  with  John  from  Conference, 
1  asked  him  if  this  story  was  true:  "Yes,"  he  said,  and 
added  that  "it  was  at  one  of  the  neatest  houses  in  the 
State,  but  it  being  dark,  the  girl  did  not  notice  it  till  it 
was  on  the  table,  at  which  she  was  as  much  mortified 
as  I  was  disappointed  in  losing  my  mush." 

There  is  a  moral  wrong  in  giving  way  to  nervous 
prostration,  which  causes  hypochondria  to  such  an 
extent,  or  countenancing  and  cultivating  the  whims 
and  notions  .that  grow  out  of  it.  It  so  resulted  with 
John.  He  indulged  them  even  into  ill-tempers,  till  we 
had  to  expel  him  from  the  ministry  and  the  Church. 

In  my  new  home,  and  the  surrounding  country,  1 
found  ample  sjiace  for  a  new  beginner,  to  hold  meet- 
ings among  the  sparse  population,  and  I  embraced  the 
opportunity  thus  offered,  and  appointed  meetings  in 
different  places;  to  and  from  which  I  traveled  on  foot, 
through  the  woods,  and  the  mud,  or  snow,  as  the  case 
might  be,  to  the  distance  of  from  five  to  twelve  miles 
and  back.  I  did  this  from  a  sense  of  duty,  and  for  the 
sake  of  my  own  enjoyment;  but  after  all,  I  saw  that  my 
enjoyments  were  declining,  as  they  had  done  from  the 
time  brother  Emery  bluffed  me  off  with  his  gruff  "jVo." 


CHAPTER  YI. 

I  WAS  now  near  the  North-West  frontier  of  our  coun- 
try, one  of  the  seats  of  the  war,  and  within  a  few 
days'  march  of  the  Indians.  The  surrender  of  Detroit, 
by  General  Hull,  to  the  British  and  Indians,  had  thrown 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  107 

the  frontier  open  to  the  ravages  of  a  savage  war;  and 
fears  were  entertained  quite  generally,  by  the  people, 
that  the  enemy  would  penetrate  our  sparsely  settled 
country,  even  as  far  as  to  where  I  had  settled.  The 
shore  of  Lake  Erie,  west  of  Cleveland,  and  for  some 
distance  to  the  south,  was  entirely  deserted  by  the  set- 
tlers. And  I  concluded,  with  many  others,  that  it  was 
better  to  meet  the  foe  by  the  side  of  companions  in 
arms,  and  led  by  skillful  officers,  than  to  meet  him  at 
my  own  door,  single-handed,  and  that,  perhaps,  in  the 
night. 

Add  to  this,  from  the  time  brother  Emery  bluffed 
me  off,  about  entering  the  itinerancy,  with  his  gruff 
"iV7o,"  my  religious  ardor  was  so  dampened  that  my 
enjoyment  was  greatly  lessened.  Having  been  in  the 
vicinity  of  New  York  when  Peirce  was  killed  by  the 
British  at  Sandy  Hook,  and  when  our  ship,  the  Chesa- 
peake, was  fired  into  by  the  Leopard,  and  five  of  my 
wife's  brothers  had  been  impressed  into  the  British 
Navy,  and  never  again  got  home,  my  patriotic  blood 
was  up  to  fighting  heat.  And  I  enlisted  for  a  year  in 
the  Twenty-Seventh  Eegiment,  United  States  Infantry, 
having  the  promise  of  being  made  a  Sergeant,  and  being 
promoted  as  I  might  merit  and  vacancies  occurred. 
But  the  first  time  I  went  to  the  recruiting  rendezvous 
and  saw  what  kind  of  company  I  was.  to  be  associated 
with,  conviction,  like  a  clap  of  thunder,  struck  my  mind 
that,  "  this  is  not  the  company  Providence  designed  for 
you." 

I  now  saw  my  position  in  religious  matters.  In 
casting  the  eye  of  my  mind  back,  I  could  see  as  clearly 
as  daylight,  the  downward  course  I  had  taken  from  the 
time  of  my  rebuff  by  the  man  of  God,  to  whom  I  had 
looked  for  guidance  and  assistance.  I  saw  that  1  had 
erred  in  entering  the  army  instead  of  preaching.  But 
I  was  in  for  it  for  a  year.     I  felt  morally  bound  to  fulfill 


108  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

my  contract  with  the  Government,  and  I  resolved  that 
at  the  end  of  my  term  of  service,  if  spared,  I  would 
return  to  duty  and  preach  the  Gospel  of  Christ.  I  had 
no  fears  of  death  in  the  army,  either  by  the  sword,  a 
bullet,  or  by  disease;  for  the  conviction  was  strongly 
fixed  in  my  mind  that  I  had  to  preach,  and  that  God 
would  preserve  me  to  do  that  work. 

The  company  was  recruited  in  Warren,  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio;  and  was  marched  to  Cleveland,  where  it 
was  organized,  and  I  was  appointed  Orderly  Sergeant. 
From  Cleveland  we  went  in  open  Mackinaw  boats 
loaded  with  corn,  to  Lower  Sandusky,  or  Fort  Steven- 
son. I  had  command  of  one  of  the  boats,  having  four- 
teen men. 

The  terror  of  the  Lake  and  the  coast,  at  that  time, 
was  the  Queen  Charlotte,  and  some  gun-boats  bearing 
the  British  flag.  Our  men  were  building  a  fleet  at  Erie, 
Penn.,  but  the  vessels  were  not  yet  ready  for  service. 
The  British  were  said  to  be  coasting  near  Sandusky 
Bay,  and  of  course,  every  sail  seen  on  the  Lake  was 
of  a  suspicious  character,  till  her  flag  was  seen.  Every 
American  vessel  on  the  Lake,  large  enough  to  carry  a 
gun,  was  purchased  for  the  fleet,  so  that  we  had  nothing 
afloat  on  the  Lake  but  small  crafts. 

On  our  way,  our  captain  apprehending  no  danger, 
observed  no  order,  but  each  boat  went  as  fast  as  it  could 
be  propelled  by  the  oars.  It  so^  happened  that  I  had 
one  of  the  largest  and  most  heavily  loaded  boats,  and, 
of  course,  fell  behind,  sometimes  nearly  out  of  sight  of 
the  leading  ones.  Off  Black  Kiver  a  strange  craft  was 
seen  making  in  for  shore  in  the  rear  of  the  forward  boats, 
and  just  ahead  of  mine.  We  could  see  no  flag,  and  we 
suspected  that  she  was  an  enemy,  intending  to  cut  us 
off  from  the  rear  of  the  other  boats. 

I  at  once  laid  my  plan  to  take  her  b}7  a  desperate 
stratagem,  and  apprised  my  men,  who  all  agreed  to  act 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  109 

well  their  parts.  She  would  hail  us,  of  course,  and  de- 
maud  a  surrender,  when  we  would  pull  the  oars  for  her, 
as  if  to  give  up.  This  would  put  them  off  their  guard. 
Oar  arms  were  loaded,  bayonets  fixed,  and  laid  by  our 
sides.  I  was  to  take  my  position  in  the  bow  of  the  boat, 
a  man  at  my  side  was  to  jump  on  board  the  enemy  when 
I  did  with  our  bow-rope,  and  tie  our  boat,  while  I  de- 
fended him  ;  and  my  other  men  were  to  follow  as  quick 
as  possible,  and  we  were  to  clear  the  deck  by  balls  and 
ba}*onets  before  they  could  bring  their  big  gun  to  bear 
upon  us.  But  our  bravery  was  not  tested,  for  we  soon 
saw  the  stars  and  stripes  of  the  little  schooner,  which 
we  found  to  be  a  trading  craft,  bound  from  Cleveland  to 
Sandusky,  and  which  accompanied  us  to  that  place. 

In  navigating  this  lake  in  open  boats  it  was  neces- 
sary to  find  a  harbor  every  night;  and  there  being  no 
artificial  ones  at  this  time,  the  only  harbors  on  our 
route  were  the  months  of  the  rivers;  and  whether  we 
could  get  our  boats  into  them  or  not,  depended  upon  the 
stage  of  the  water  in  the  rivers.  When  they  wrere  low, 
the  surf  of  the  lake  would  close  up  their  mouths  with 
sand,  and  when  the  rivers  rose  so  as  to  cause  a  cur- 
rent into  the  lake,  the  sand  would  be  washed  away.  It 
so  happened  that  this  was  a  wet  season,  and  tire  rivers 
were  so  high  as  to  keep  the  harbors  open. 

While  at  the  mouth  of  Huron  River  a  gale  of  wind 
sprung  up,  and  we  were  detained  there  several  days. 
We  were  now  within  ten  miles  of  the  entrance  of  San- 
dusky Bay,  near  to  which  a  battle  had  been  fought 
with  the  Indians,  and  our  men  badh7  whipped.  We 
were  aware  that  another  expedition  from  Maiden  was 
about  -to  visit  our  coast;  but  as  the  captain  took  no 
measures  to  send  out  a  scout  to  ascertain  whether  the 
coast  was  clear  or  not;  and,  being  tired  of  being  idle,  I 
solicited*  and  obtained  the  privilege  of  going  with  four- 
teen volunteers  to  the  outlet  of  the  bay.     We  found  the 


110  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

grave  of  one  of  Hull's  men  who  had  died  on  his  way 
home,  after  being  basely  sold  by  that  officer.  This 
fired  our  blood  for  a  fight,  if  we  should  find  the  enemy ; 
but  finding  no  signs  of  him,  we  returned. 

The  wind  dying  away  in  the  night,  we  left  Huron 
and  reached  the  bay  at  daybreak.  On  our  way  we 
saw  the  moon  rising  out  of  the  lake,  very  red,  and,  at 
first  sight,  having  the  appearance  of  fire.  This  we 
supposed  must  be  on  the  Queen  Charlotte,  which  we 
understood  was  on  the  lookout  for  us.  Accordingly  we 
made  preparations  for  a  hot  time  of  it  with  her  boats; 
but  the  fright  was  soon  over,  as  the  rising  of  that  orb 
showed  what  it  was.  These  little  incidents  were  of 
small  importance  only,  but  they  served  to  introduce 
men  to  the  war,  and  prepare  them  for  more  serious 
events. 

Just  inside  the  bay  we  stopped  to  get  our  breakfast. 
Here  again  we  had  a  little  further  introduction  to  sol- 
dier's fare.  We  drew  our  pork  and  flour,  but  we  had  no 
camp  equipage,  not  having  yet  reached  our  regiment. 
We  kindled  fires  of  drift-wood  found  on  the  beach.  We 
took  the  flour,  some  on  pieces  of  bark,  and  some  in  dirty 
pocket  handkerchiefs.  If  we  had  cups,  we  ladled  the 
water  from  the  bay  into  the  flour,  and  those  who  had  no 
cups  lifted  the  wTater  with  their  two  hands  so  arranged 
as  to  form  a  cup.  The  flour  thus  wet,  without  salt, 
yeast,  or  shortening,  was  baked,  some  on  pieces  of  bark 
before  the  fire,  hoe-cake  or  johnn3'-cake  fashion  ;  and 
some  removed  the  fire  and  put  the  dough  into  the  hot 
sand,  wrapped  in  leaves  or  paper.  Our  pork  we  cooked 
in  the  blaze  of  the  fire,  on  the  points  of  sticks.  Having 
a  good  appetite,  I  thought  the  bread  baked  in  the  hot 
sand  was  very  sweet,  and  the  pork  very  palatable. 

We  reached  the  mouth  of  Sandusky  Eiver,  at  the 
head  of  the  ba}T,  just  at  night,  and  took  supper  on  the 
first  dry  ground  we  came  to.     The  officers  thought  it 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  Ill 

safer  to  row  all  night,  or  till  Ave  reached  the  fort, 
eighteen  miles  further,  than  to  camp  and  be  exposed  to 
an  attack  from  prowling  Indians.  I  obeyed  orders,  of 
course,  but  it  was  my  opinion  that  we  should  be  much 
more  exposed  in  the  boats,  and  on  the  river,  the  sound 
of  the  oars  giving  notice  of  our  whereabouts,  than  we 
should  in  camp,  where  all  was  still,  and  where,  with  a 
little  work,  we  could  have  thrown  up  some  temporary 
defenses.  The  river  is  seldom  over  one  hundred  yards 
wide,  and  our  boats  must  be  within  range  of  muskets 
and  rifles,  with  no  defenses,  while  the  enemy  on  the 
bank,  and  in  the  woods,  would  have  all  the  advantage. 
But  we  came  safe  to  the  fort  about  daybreak,  and  got 
our  breakfasts,  with  some  bread  from  the  fort.  We 
were  ordered  into  the  line  of  march  with  several  other 
companies  for  Seneca,  ten  miles :  up  the  Sandusky 
.River.  Here,  for  the  first  time,  I  saw  General  Har- 
rison, then  the  lion  of  the  iS'orth-West,  who  marched 
with  us  to  Seneca.  He  expected  an  attack  on  the 
way,  and  gave  the  necessary  orders;  but  we  escaped 
again.  At  Seneca  we  met  our  regiment,  which  had 
come  in  through  the  wilderness,  and  we  soon  got  our 
clothing,  tents,  and  camp  cooking  apparatus.  Our 
guns  and  a  stock  of  ammunition  we  received  at 
Cleveland. 

Our  camp  at  Seneca  was  on  the  site  of  the  old  In- 
dian village.  In  it  were  the  Twenty-Seventh,  Twenty- 
Eighth,  and  Seventeenth  Regiments;  also  a  squadron 
of  dragoons,  in  all  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  men. 
It  stood  upon  the  left  bank  of  the  Sandusky  Eiver,  and 
was  fortified  by  log  breastworks,  and  some  earthen 
embankments,  with  three  block-houses,  the  river  side 
having  none.  The  block-houses,  built  of  heavy  logs, 
were  occupied  by  the  guards,  and  were  in  advance  of 
the  breastworks  several  rods.  On  the  north,  or  down- 
river side,  was  a  spot  clear  of  timber,  which  was  our 


112  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

drilling-ground,  but  thick  heavy  timber  surrounded  us 
on  the  other  angles  of  the  encampment. 

We  lay  on  our  arras  for  ten  nights  previous  to  the 
battle  at  Fort  Stevenson,  and  had  more  or  less  alarms 
every  night,  and  some  in  the  day-time.  Men  passing 
to  and  from  our  camp  to  others,  were  frequently  killed 
or  wounded  by  the  prowling  Indians. 

Among  the  exciting  scenes  and  alarms  of  these  first 
ten  dixys  were  some  ludicrous  ones.  The  sentinels  were 
to  hail  once,  and  if  no  answer  came,  to  fire.  One 
night  a  sentinel  on  the  main  line,  hearing  a  noise  in 
the  brush  hailed,  then  fired,  and  the  next  hearing  the 
hail  and  the  gun,  was  on  the  alert,  and  hearing  some- 
thing in  the  brush,  hailed  and  fired  almost  at  the  same 
instant;  and  so  it  went  along  the  line  till  eight  or  ten 
guns  went  off  in  quick  succession.  At  the  sound  of  the 
first  gun  every  man  in  camp  sprang  to  his  place  at 
the  breastwork,  and  from  hearing  so  many  guns,  we 
expected  the  onslaught  at  once;  but  silence  ensued, 
scouts  scoured  the  ground,  and  the  conclusion  was  that 
a  deer  had  caused  all  the  trouble.  At  another  time, 
under  similar  circumstances,  an  ox  that  had  strayed 
away  from  the  cattle-guard  was  shot  down  by  the 
sentinel. 

But  the  most  singular  case  occurred  in  the  day-time. 
The  sentinel  fired  without  hailing.  It  was  supposed 
the  enemy  must  surely  be  in  sight,  and  every  man  was 
instantly  at  his  post.  The  drum  beat  to  arms,  and  all 
was  excitement,  expecting  iioav  a  fight  in  good  earnest. 
But  soon  the  word  "dismiss"  came  round;  and  when 
the  officer  of  the  day  and  the  General  himself  reached 
the  spot,  the  sentinel  said  that  he  saw  something  black 
moving  through  and  under  some  brush,  which  he 
thought  was  an  Indian  trying  to  get  a  shot  at  him,  and 
he  thought  it  best  and  safest  to  take  the  first  chance 
himself,  and  so  blazed  away.     On  the  Sergeant  of  tho 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  113 

guard  going  to  the  place  pointed  out,  he  found  a  large 
turkey,  and  wild  turkeys  being  nearly  black,  the  General 
commended  the  sentinel  for  his  caution,  and  said  he 
should  have  the  turkey  for  his  dinner.  Some  of  the 
boys  thought  it  more  than  likely  that  the  sentinel 
could  distinguish  between  a  turkey  and  an  Indian  in 
broad  daylight,  but  coveting  a  good  dinner,  took  that 
method  to  obtain  it,  trusting  to  stratagem  for  an  excuse, 
in  which  he  succeeded.  Allowing  that  it  was  so,  it  was, 
no  doubt,  better  to  let  it  pass,  than  to  deter  a  sentinel 
from  firing  when  there  was  danger,  and  thus  expose  his 
life  and  the  army  to  a  stratagem  of  the  enemy. 

While  in  this  camp  I  so  discharged  my  duties  that 
on  drill  I  was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  platoon,  in  place 
of  a  commissioned  officer;  and  I  was  so  correct  and 
full  in  my  returns  and  reports  as  to  be  favorably  re- 
ported to  General  Cass,  who  commanded  our  brigade, 
upon  which,  unsolicited,  he  promised  me  a  lieutenancy. 
But,  as  the  privates  died  off  faster,  in  proportion,  than 
the  officers,  no  vacancy  occurred,  and  1  was  left  to 
serve  out  my  time  as  I  was. 

A V 1 1 i  1  e  at  Seneca,  the  Quarter-Master  Sergeant  asked 
me,  one  day,  if  I  was  not  a  Methodist.  "Why,"  said  I, 
"what  makes  you  think  so?" 

"Well,  you  mind  your  own  business,  perform  your 
duty  punctually,  but  never  join  in  the  amusements  of 
the  men,  nor  use  any  of  their  bad  language." 

"Yes,  I  am  a  Methodist." 

"Ah!"  said  he,  "you  will  not  be  that  long  here." 

"Why,"  I  inquired,  "are  we  not  engaged  in  a  law- 
ful and  honorable  war?  And  why  can  not  a  man  enjoy 
religion  in  the  army,  in  such  a  case,  as  well  as  any- 
where else?" 

"That  is  all  true,"  he  said;  "but  as  none,  or  very 
few,  have  done  so,  I  conclude  that  you  will  do  as  the 
rest  have  done." 

10 


114  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"Then,"  said  I,  "by  the  help  of  God  I  will  make  one 
exception;  for  I  despise  a  man  who  will  not  maintain 
his  integrity  in  the  arm}',  as  well  as  any  other  lawful 
employment." 

During  the  ensuing  Winter  this  Sergeant  was  home 
on  furlough,  or  the  recruiting  service.  When  he  re- 
turned in  the  Spring  to  Detroit,  at  our  first  meeting, 
he  said,  "Well,  Sergeant,  I  have  made  inquiry  about 
you  since  my  return,  and  am  glad  to  find  that  you 
have  kept  your  word,  and  maintained  your  religious 
integrity.  It  is  an  honor  to  you,  and  you  are  the  more 
respected  for  it." 

As  I  was  now  situated,  my  only  opportunity  for  se- 
cret prayer,  in  form,  was  after  all  the  men  had  retired. 
It  was  part  of  my  duty  to  see  that  ever}^  non-commis- 
sioned officer  and  private  soldier  in  "the  company  was 
in  his  tent  at  tattoo,  or  nine  o'clock,  P.  M. ;  and,  as  all 
was  then  still,  I  retired  behind  the  breastwork,  and 
had  my  formal  secret  devotions,  being  obliged  to  do  it 
mentally  at  other  hours  of  the  day.  I  had  my  Bible 
with  me,  and  read  a  portion  of  it  every  day;  and,  find- 
ing a  few  men  who  had  once  had  some  knowledge  of 
religion,  though  now  in  a  backslidden  state,  I  conversed 
with  them  on  religious  subjects,  as  often  as  opportunity 
occurred. 

As  before  stated,  the  country  was  infested  with  In- 
dians, accompanied  by  British  regulars,  and  we  ex- 
pected an  attack  every  night,  for  ten  days.  General 
Harrison  said  that  his  spies  reported  five  thousand  reg- 
ulars, and  six  thousand  Indians,  on  the  way  for  that 
purpose;  and  knowing  that  his  army  of  twenty-five 
hundred  men  could  not  resist  eleven  thousand,  he  had 
made  a  requisition  on  Governor  Meigs,  of  Ohio,  for  four 
thousand  militia,  wrho  were  on  their  march  to  assist 
us.  But  the  spies  reported  that  the  enemy  had  left 
Fort  Meigs,  on  the  Maumee  Eiver,  and  were  heading 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  115 

toward  our  camp.  In  view  of  the  near  approach  of 
the  enemy,  the  General  thought  it  prudent  to  fall  back 
toward  Upper  Sandusky,  till  he  met  Governor  Meigs, 
with  his  re-enforcement,  and  then  return  to  the  fight; 
but  he  could  not  retreat  and  leave  Major  Croghan  at 
Fort  Stevenson,  with  one  hundred  and  forty-three  men, 
where,  with  such  a  force  against  them,  they  must  be 
cut  off. 

The  General,  therefore,  sent  an  express  to  the  Major 
to  burn  his  fort,  and  every  thing  in  it  that  his  men 
could  not  carry  on  their  backs,  and  retreat  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river,  so  as  to  be  at  Seneca  at  reveille  the 
next  morning.  But  it  so  happened — fortunately,  as  it 
turned  out — that  the  express  missed  his  way,  got  lost  in 
the  woods,  and  did  not  reach  the  Major  till  the  next 
day,  at  ten  o'clock,  A.  M. 

In  the  mean  time  every  thing  was  prepared  at  Sen- 
eca for  a  retreat  at  reveille  that  morning.  All  the 
provisions,  stores,  tents,  and  every  thing  that  could  not 
be  carried  on  men's  backs,  were  to  be  burned.  The 
men  wTcre  supplied  with  extra  rations,  to  eat  on  the 
way,  and  but  little  sleep  was  had  during  the  night. 
But  morning  came,  and  no  troops  from  the  little  fort. 
It  would  not  do  to  retreat,  and  leave  them.  A  Council 
of  War  was  called  to  decide  what  should  be  done.  The 
men  were  restless,  and  discontented  at  the  idea  of  a 
retreat ;  and  the  officers  seemed  to  be  of  the  same  state 
of  mind;  all  preferring  to  meet  the  enemy  at  our  breast- 
works, and  try  our  skill  and  fortune  in  a  battle,  despite 
the  odds  in  numbers.  At  length,  when  General  Cass 
was  asked  his  opinion,  he  said,  "  General,  you  are  in 
command;  you  must  do  as  you  think  best."  "But," 
said  Harrison,  "two  heads  are  better  than  one,  and  1 
want  your  opinion."  "Well,  it  is  my  opinion,  then, 
that  we  would  better  not  retreat  till  we  see  something 
to  retreat  from."     This  settled  the  question  ;  and  every 


116  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

man  was  set  at  work  to  strengthen  our  defenses,  and 
prepare  for  the  worst. 

The  Major,  knowing  that  the  failure  of  the  express 
to  reach  him  in  time  to  obey  the  order,  would  thwart 
the  General's  designs,  and  that  he  must  wait  for  further 
orders;  and  as  his  own  spies  had  reported  only  hun- 
dreds where  the  General's  had  reported  thousands,  he 
believed  that  he  could  defend  the  little  fort,  if  attacked, 
before  another  order  could  be  received.  As  he  had  to 
wait  for  further  orders,  he  sent  the  express  back,  with 
this  letter:  "1  have  men  enough,  ammunition  enough, 
and  provisions  enough  ;  and  d n  me  if  I  quit  the  fort." 

The  express  reached  head -quarters,  with  this  inso- 
lent letter,  about  sundown.  The  General,  of  course, 
was  nettled.  The  Major  was  a  pet  of  his;  had  been 
in  serviee  with  him  through  the  war,  from  Tippecanoe 
to  this  time;  and  to  get  such  a  letter  from  his  pet,  was 
rather  too  much  for  friendship  to  bear;  and,  besides, 
subordination  muist  be  preserved,  or  the  army  would 
be  ruined.  So,  the  next  morning,  Colonel  Wells  was 
ordered  to  the  command  of  the  little  fort,  and  Colonel 
Ball,  with  his  two  hundred  dragoons,  was  ordered  to 
escort  him  down  to  it,  and  bring  up  Major  Croghan 
under  arrest.  About  noon  the  order  was  executed,  and 
the  little  Major,  only  nineteen  years  of  age,  was  brought 
into  camp  a  prisoner. 

The  General  was,  naturally,  very  nervous,  and  excite- 
ment very  much  quickened  his  motions  and  his  words. 
When  the  Major  appeared  before  him  he  sprang  to  his 
feet,  and,  with  vehemence,  said,  "Major  Croghan,  how 
came  you  to  send  me  that  insolent  letter?" 

"  Why,  General,  did  n't  the  express  explain  it?" 

"Explain  it!  What  explanation  can  be  given  to 
such  a  letter  as  that?" 

"  Why,  General,  didn't  he  tell  you  that  he  didn't 
get  there  till  yesterday  morning,  at  ten  o'clock?" 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  117 

"  Yes,  he  told  me  that.  But  what  has  that  to  do 
with  this  letter?" 

""Why,  you  know  I  couldn't  evacuate  the  fort,  and 
get  here  by  reveille  of  the  morning  previous." 

"  Of  course  not." 

"Well,  I  knew  that  your  plans  must  be  thwarted, 
by  the  circumstance,  and  that  I  must  wait  for  further 
orders;  and,  believing  that  I  was  completely  invested 
by  the  enemy,  and  that  the  express  and  the  letter 
would  fall  into  his  hands,  I  determined,  if  it  did,  to  send 
him  as  bullying  a  one  as  possible.  But  I  told  the  ex- 
press, the  d d  rascal,  that  if  he  got  through  with  it, 

to  explain  it  to  you.     Did  n't  he  do  it,  General?" 

"No,  he  did  n't." 

"  Why,  General,  you  know  that  I  understand  my 
business,  and  the  duties  of  a  subordinate,  too  well  to 
send  you  such  a  letter,  under  any  other  circumstances." 

"Why,  certainly,  I  thought  so;  and  that  was  the 
mystery  of  the  case.  But  how  could  I  understand  it 
without  an  explanation?  and  with  this  I  am  satisfied." 
And  before  night  the  Major  was  restored  to  his  com- 
mand, and  Colonel  Wells  recalled  to  his. 

There  were  some  speculations  among  the  officers  as 
lo  the  Major's  explanation.  Some  thought  that  he  be- 
lieved his  own  spies  to  have  the  correct  numbers  of  the 
enemy,  despite  the  report  of  the  General's  spies,  and 
that  with  his  advantages  he  could  whip  them,  and  that 
he  expected  the  attack  before  the  General  could  arrest 
him;  if  successful,  the  victory  would  place  him  above 
censure;  if  not,  it  would  make  no  difference,  as  he  would 
be  either  dead  or  a  prisoner.  But  the  most  probable 
reason  for  his  course  was  that  given  by  himself, 
though  he  disapproved  of  the  proposed  retreat.  As  the 
matter  turned  out,  in  two  days  after  his  return,  he 
fought  the  memorabk  battle  of  Fort  Stevenson,  having 
but  one  hundred  and  forty-three  men  to  repulse  eleven 


118  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

hundred  of  the  enemy.  Of  the  British  regulars,  some 
fifty  were  killed  in,  or  near,  the  ditch ;  but  of  the 
wounded  no  report  could  be  made,  as  they  retreated. 
But  soon  after  the  battle  a  British  surgeon  came,  with 
a  flag  of  truce,  to  attend  to  their  wounded,  expecting  to 
find  at  least  one  hundred  and  fifty,  as  but  three  hun- 
dred of  the  five  hundred  that  left  Maiden  got  back  to 
it,  showing  a  loss  of  two  hundred,  somewhere.  On  this 
information  the  General  sent  out  Indian  scouts  to  scour 
the  woods  between  the  little  fort  and  the  lake.  They 
picked  up  and  brought  in  about  twenty,  and  reported  a 
large  number  of  dead  bodies,  and  bones,  and  uniforms, 
indicating  the  death  of  as  many,  who  perished  in  their 
retreat. 

Among  the  prisoners  taken  at  the  Thames,  in  Octo- 
ber after,  was  one  who  said  he  was  in  that' expedition, 
and  was  sent  as  a  spy,  to  ascertain  if  re-enforcements 
w^ere  approaching  the  little  fort,  and  when  he  discov- 
ered the  camp  at  Seneca,  he  entered  it  in  the  night,  be- 
tween two  sentinels,  counted  the  tents,  and  reported 
twenty-five  hundred  men  to  his  officers.  He  said  that 
the  British  commander  had  no  idea  of  the  Seneca  camp  ; 
he  only  aimed  at  the  little  fort;  and  as  soon  as  he 
learned  of  the  strength  of  our  arms  at  Seneca,  he  said 
that  what  they  did  must  be  done  at  once,  and  ordered 
the  fatal  attempt  to  scale  the  pickets,  and  storm  the 
place;  but  they  had  no  idea  of  the  ditch,  in  which  forty 
of  them  were  killed  by  one  shot  from  the  six-pounder 
in  the  block-house. 

The  case  of  the  Indians  who  were  engaged  in  this 
fight  is  not  known  to  history  entire.  In  1837,  when  I 
established  a  mission  among  the  Sioux,  a  scar  on  the 
face  of  Little  Crow,  the  head  chief,  led  me  to  inquire 
where  he  received  the  wound,  and  he  gave  me  this  in- 
formation:  "Dixon,  the  British  trader  and  agent,  on 
the  west  of  Lake  Michigan,  went  among  the  Sioux,  and 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  119 

raised  one  hundred  and  fifty  men  ;  among  the  Winne- 
bagoes,  one  hundred  and  fifty;  and  among  the  Sacs  and 
Foxes,  three  hundred.  Little  Crow's  father  commanded 
the  Sioux,  and  the  son,  then  eighteen  years  old,  accom- 
panied him.  Dixon  told  these  Indians  that  the  Yan- 
kees were  great  cowards,  but  rich  in  spoils;  that  one 
Indian  could  whip  five  Yankees,  and  that  they  wTould 
be  loaded  with  money  and  goods.  They  traveled  round 
the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  to  Maiden,  where  they  de- 
manded to  be  led  at  once  against  the  Yankees.  Proc- 
tor, the  British  General,  wished  to  delay  a  little,  to  get 
ready  for  some  grand  movement,  with  his  new  allies, 
but  they  would  not  be  detained;  they  had  come  to  fight 
and  plunder,  and  do  it  they  would,  or  go  home." 

Proctor  was  unwilling  to  lose  such  a  body  of  new 
recruits,  but  he  dreaded  to  attack  Fort  Meigs  again, 
where,  but  a  few  months  previous,  he  had  been  so  badly 
whipped.  Presuming  that  the  little  stockade  at  Lower 
Sandusky  would  be  full  of  stores,  and  have  but  few  men, 
he  determined  to  try  his  luck  at  that;  but,  to  avoid  sus- 
picion, he  must  make  a  feint  at  Fort  Meigs,  thinking  to 
draw  troops  from  the  little  fort,  and  thus  weaken  it. 

But  Harrison  understood  his  designs,  and  knowing 
that  Meigs  was  safe,  sent  no  troops  to  strengthen  it. 
Alter  a  short  skirmish  at  the  old  fort,  Proctor  sent  the 
Indians  through  the  Maumee  Swamp,  while  his  regulars 
went  in  boats  to  the  mouth  of  Carrying  River,  and  some 
around  into  Sandusky  Bay  and  river,  with  some  artil- 
lery. "  But  such  was  the  defeat  they  met  with,  that  the 
Indians  became  disheartened,  and  disgusted  with  the 
deceptions  that  had  been  played  upon  them,  and  having 
lost  at  least  one  hundred  in  killed,  and  a  large  number 
wounded,  they  left  the  British,  refusing  to  go  to  Maiden 
for  their  presents,  alleging  that  they  had  been  deceived 
once,  and  might  be  again,  and  took  the  straight  course 
for  the  head  of  Lake  Michigan,  and  to  their  respective 


120  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

homes.  Bat  more  than  half  who  started  for  the  seat  of 
the  war  never  returned.  This  was  the  first,  and  the 
last,  time  the  Sioux  of  the  River  ever  lifted  the  toma- 
hawk against  the  whites."  But  this  chief's  son,  in 
1S62,  raised  a  great  war  in  Minnesota. 

Little  Crow,  in  detailing  the  substance  of  the  forego- 
ing, concluded  by  saying,  "The  British  are  bad  men, 
poor  fighters,  and  deceived  us;  but  the  Americans  were 
brave  men,  and  fight  hard."  Black  Hawk,  the  Sac 
chief,  in  his  Life,  makes  a  similar  statement,  of  that 
attack  upon  Fort  Stevenson,  he  being  at  the  head  of 
Sacs  and  Foxes. 

While  the  battle  was  raging  at  Fort  Stevenson,  the 
booming  of  the  cannon  reached  our  ears  at  Seneca,  and 
our  men  showed  unmistakable  signs  of  uneasiness  and 
discontent  at  the  thought  of  so  many  of  us  having  no 
part  in  the  fray.  Some  murmurings  would  break  out, 
because  they  were  not  led  to  the  scene  of  action,  and 
some  fears  were  expressed  as  to  the  fate  of  that  little 
band  of  brave  men.  It  was  but  a  few  hours,  however, 
until  the  suspense  was  at  an  end,  for  a  foaming  steed 
came  into  camp,  and  the  rider  handed  a  letter  to  the 
General,  giving  a  brief  statement  of  the  affair,  and  then 
followed  a  deafening  roar  of  shouts  and  rejoicing. 

When  Commodore  Perry  appeared  with  the  fleet  at 
Sandusky  Bay,  he  sent  to  General  Harrison  for  eighty 
infantry,  to  act  as  marines,  in  the  fleet.  I  tried  to  be 
one  of  them,  but  my  Colonel  refused  to  let  me  go,  say- 
ing he  could  not  spare  me.  One  of  our  company,  Ben- 
jamin Hall,  who  w7ent  to  the  fleet,  performed  a  feat  that 
would  have  immortalized  him,  if  he  had  had  friends  to 
sound  his  fame. 

He  was  placed  on  board  the  Ohio  schooner,  which 
mounted  a  long  twenty-four-pounder  pivot  gun.  In 
the  action  all  the  ramrods  for  the  gun  were  shot  away 
or  otherwise  destroyed  but  one,  and  in  the  heat  of  the 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  121 

action,  by  some  strange  oversight,  that  one  ramrod  was 
left  in  the  gun  when  fired,  and  the  gun  left  useless  for 
the  rest  of  the  battle.  The  officers  and  men  stood 
looking  at  each  other,  and  then  at  the  rod  some  eight 
or  ten  rods  from  the  vessel,  and  in  the  midst  of  the 
bubbles  caused  by  the  grape  and  canister  shot  of  the 
enemy.  Hall  soon  relieved  them  from  the  painful 
suspense.  He  stepped  to  the  shroud  rack  and  took 
down  a  piece  of  small  halyards,  and  taking  one  end  of 
it  in  his  hand  jumped  overboard  and  swam  to  the  rod, 
and  seizing  it  with  the  other  hand,  cried  out  to  those 
on  board,  "haul  in."  This  was  done  with  a  will,  and 
after  taking  up  the  rod,  they  hauled  him  aboard,  and 
the  gun  was  soon  in  use  again. 

The  day  after  Perry's  victory  on  the  lake,  our  army 
at  Seneca,  not  yet  knowing  of  it,  marched  to  Lower 
Sandusky,  with  a  view  to  concentrating  the  whole  of 
the  army  at  Fort  Meigs,  and  thence  to  Maiden  by  land, 
to  co-operate  with  the  fleet  in  an  attack  upon  that  strong- 
hold. ^Numerous  Mackinaw  boats  had  been  provided 
for  our  troops  to  cross  the  head  of  the  lake  in,  when 
the  enemy's  fleet  were  kept  in  check,  but  where  we 
were  to  take  the  boats  was  not  a  settled  question. 

On  reaching  Lower  Sandusky,  and  before  we  had 
time  to  pitch  our  tents,  we  saw  a  boat  coming  up  the 
river,  with  all  the  speed  oars  could  give  her ;  as  soon  as 
the  officer  in  command  reached  the  fort  on  the  hill — 
we  were  camping  on  the  bottom,  next  to  the  river — we 
heard  a  tremendous  shout  and  hurrahing,  and  then  the 
booming  of  cannon.  All  eyes  were  turned  in  that  di- 
rection, knowing  that  something  glorious  had  occurred, 
.what,  we  could  not  guess.  But  we  saw  a  man  running 
down  the  hill  at  a  break-neck  speed,  who  announced 
the  victory  on  the  lake,  when  the  troops  who  had  just 
arrived  joined  in  the  universal  shout  and  rejoicing. 

Before  the  shout  had  subsided,  orders  came  not  to 
11 


122  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

pitch  our  tents,  but  march  at  once  toward  the  mouth 
of  Carrying  or  Put-in  Bay  Elver,  to  receive  the  pris- 
oners. We  went  that  night  to  Whitaker's,  three  miles, 
and  the  next  day  to  the  place  appointed.  In  passing 
over  the  prairie,  where  I  could  get  no  drink,  I  became 
faint  from  the  want  of  water,  and  gave  out.  I  never 
knew  before  that  a  man  could  go  longer  without  food 
than  without  water.  But  this  proved  it.  An  officer 
on  horseback  seeing  me  in  the  grass,  and  learning  the 
cause,  gave  me  his  horse  to  ride,  and  on  the  way  from 
the  head  of  Sandusky  Bay  across  the  portage  to  the 
lake,  we  came  to  a  swale  in  which  water  stood  in  the 
grass,  but  could  not  run  for  the  grass  and  yellow  sedi- 
ment ;  such  as  it  was,  the  men  drank  it  with  eagerness. 
A  soldier  handed  me  two  pint  cups  full  of  it,  so  thick 
that  I  could  not  see  the  bottom  of  the  cup,  but  it  was 
the  sweetest  water  I  ever  tasted.  But  I  paid  for  it 
before  Winter,  in  the  bile  it  caused  in  my  system. 

The  next  day,  being  the  third  after  the  victory, 
Commodore  Perry  and  General  Harrison  met  at  our  en- 
campment at  the  mouth  of  Carrying  River,  with  great 
congratulations,  and  the  booming  of  cannon  from  both 
land  and  water.  The  arrangements  were  made  to  land 
the  prisoners  there,  and  send  them  to  Chillicothe,  Ohio, 
under  guard;  and  for  the  troops  to  embark  at  that 
place,  in  the  open  boats,  and  on  the  smaller  vessels,  and 
go  by  the  islands  to  Maiden.  The  day  following  the 
prisoners  were  landed,  with  some  of  whom  I  became 
familiar;  and  especially  with  one  midshipman,  from 
whom  I  learned  some  facts  and  incidents  of  the  war, 
which,  though  suspected  and  believed  by  many,  had  not 
seen  the  light  through  the  press.  But  as  they  were 
corroborated  by  some  facts  within  my  own  knowledge, 
and  all  linking  into  a  chain  with  the  printed  facts,  I 
deemed  them  to  be  well  authenticated,  and  worthy  of 
credence. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  123 

This  midshipman  was  born  in  the  United  States, 
but  happened  to  get  married  at  Maiden  or  Amherstburg, 
and  was  living  there  when  the  war  broke  out.  He 
was  a  sergeant  in  a  volunteer  company  previous  to  the 
war,  but  intended  to  escape  to  the  States,  if  war  should 
occur.  Hull  was  accused  of  sending  word  to  the  Brit- 
ish that  war  was  declared,  before  the  news  of  it  reached 
Detroit ;  and  this  man  said  it  was  the  fact ;  that  before 
he  knew  of  it,  he  was  warned  out  of  bed,  and  pressed 
into  the  service,  and  so  closely  watched  he  could  not 
make  his  escape.  Being  a  sergeant,  he  took  his  turn 
in  being  orderly  for  General  Brock,  and  was  so  when 
he  landed  at  Spring  Wells,  three  miles  below  Detroit. 
This   brought  him  in   close  proximity  with  Brock. 

He  said  that  while  Brock  was  waiting  behind  the 

sand  hills,  at  the  Wells,  he  sent  his  aid  out  three  times 

to  see   if  Hull  had  raised  the  white  flag.     When  the 

"aid  returned  the  second  time  with  the  word  "no  flag 

yet,   General,"    Brock's  knees   so  trembled    that  they 

fairly  smote  together,  and  he   said,  "  D n  me,  I  'm 

afraid  the  old  dog  will  trick  me  yet."  But  when  the 
aid  returned  the  third  time  with  word  that  the  flag 
was  out,  Brock's  countenance  changed,  and  he  ordered 
a  forward  movement,  to  take  possession  of  the  city. 
When  they  came  to  the  west  gate  of  the  city  and  saw 
the  cannon  planted  so  as  to  rake  down  the  road,  with 
lighted  matches  by  them,  he,  with  others,  felt  and 
looked  pale  at  the  thought  of  what  would  have  been 
the  consequence  if  they  had  been  let  loose  upon  them. 
And  when  they  saw  the  rage  of  the  Americans  at  being 
thus  sold,  and  without  a  chance  to  defend  themselves, 
Brock  said  it  would  have  been  hard  taking  those  men. 

"Then,"  said  I,  "Hull  sold  his  men,  did  he?" 

"  O,  yes,  that  was  understood,  or  Brock  would  not 
have  ventured  over  the  river  with  a  force  so  much  less 
than  that  of  the  Americans." 


12-4  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"  Well,  what  did  Hull  get  for  them." 

"Why,  he  was  to  have  sixteen  dollars  a  head  for 
the  men,  and  pay  for  the  provisions,  guns,  ammunition, 
etc.;  but  when  Hull  lay  in  Sandwich  he  sent  General 
M'Arthur  up  the  St.  Clair  Eiver  to  Selkirk's  settle- 
ment, and  took  eight  hundred  merino  sheep,  which 
were  valued  at  from  twelve  to  fourteen  hundred  dol- 
lars a  head  at  that  time,  and  butchered  them  for  his 
army.  When  Brock  had  him  a  prisoner  in  Montreal, 
and  settled  with  him,  he  said,  'You  stole  those  sheep 
after  you  had  made  the  bargain,  and  shall  pay  for 
them ;'  and  thus  brought  Hull  in  debt,  and  served  him 
right." 

As  the  sergeant  told  this  story  in  the  presence  of 
his  fellow-prisoners,  one  of  them  rebuked  him  for  "tell- 
ing tales  out  of  school." 

"  Why,  it  is  true,"  said  the  sergeant. 

"  I  know  that,"  said  the  other,  "  but  the  truth  is  not 
to  be  told  at  all  times." 

"O,  well,  I 'm  a  prisoner,  and  1  don't  know  as  I 
shall  ever  get  back  again." 

The  sergeant  said  that  after  the  British  got  pos- 
session of  Detroit,  with  the  artillery,  etc.,  they  built  the 
ship  Detroit,  and  armed  her  with  the  guns  taken  in 
the  city,  and,  to  man  her,  the  company  to  which  he 
belonged  was  transferred  to  her,  and  he  was  made  a 
midshipman,  in  which  capacity  he  was  taken,  and  then 
a  prisoner. 

This  story  of  the  sergeant  reminded  me  of  an  inci- 
dent that  occurred  in  Bridgeport,  Connecticut,  on  the 
morning  of  the  17th  of  August,  1812,  the  next  morning 
after  Hull's  surrender,  which  took  place  on  the  16th  of 
that  month. 

There  were  in  Bridgeport  and  the  neighboring 
towns  men  who  were  Tories,  and  in  the  British  service 
in  the  Revolutionary  war,  and  who,  down  to  this  time, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  125 

were  drawing  half-pay  from  the  British  treasury,  and 
of  course  were  now  Federalists — the  political  party 
which  favored  England,  and  were  opposed  to  the  war. 
Among  them  was  a  Major  who,  by  common  consent, 
was  their  leader,  and  his  residence  in  Stratford  was 
called  "head-quarters"  of  this  Tory  gang. 

On  the  morning  of  the  17th  of  August,  1812,  as 
before  stated,  the  day  after  Hull's  surrender,  I  hap- 
pened to  be  in  company  with  some  of  this  Tory  gang, 
who  seemed  not  to  regard  my  presence,  as  I  was  but  a 
youth,  and  who  were  conversing  freely  about  the  war, 
when  one  of  them,  who  was  said  to  have  been  an  En- 
sign in  the  British  service,  and  now  on  half-pay,  said, 
''Hull  has  surrendered;"  and  spoke  as  if  the  matter 
was  so  understood  by  them  all  as  to  be  expected. 

"  How  do  you  know?"  said  another. 

"Why,  I  got  it  at  head-quarters,  3Testerday." 

This  answer  seemed  to  settle  all  questions  as  to  its 
being  so  with  the  others,  and  all  seemed  to  chuckle 
over  it  as  something  good  in  their  estimation.  I  turned 
away  in  disgust  at  their  treachery  to  the  country,  not 
believing  the  report;  but  in  ten  days  after  the  mails 
brought  a  confirmation  of  it.  This  raised  the  query, 
as  to  how  it  was  known  at  the  Tory  head-quarters  on 
the  verj-  day  of  the  surrender. 

This,  in  turn,  led  me  back  in  the  history  of  the 
country,  when  a  Captain  Henry  in  the  British  service 
was  prowling  through  New  England  to  effect  a  division 
of  the  Union,  by  the  Hudson  Eiver,  and  Lakes  George 
and  Champlain.  As  my  memory  serves  me,  it  was  in 
1807,  8,  and  9,  and  continued  down  to  the  war  of  1812. 
The  design  was  to  attach  or  annex  that  portion  of  the 
Union  which  lies  east  of  the  line  indicated  to  England, 
and  make  it  a  Vice-Boyalty,  the  capital  of  which  should 
be  Boston. 

John  Quincy  Adams,  who   was   elected   a   Senator 


126  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

from  Massachusetts  to  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  in  1803,  as  a  Federalist,  but  too  much  of  a  pat- 
riot to  join  in  the  conspiracy,  learning  of  its  existence 
in  his  party  in  1808,  went  that  Fall  to  Washington 
with  a  heavy  heart.  When  he  met  Mr.  Jefferson,  then 
the  President,  he  saw  in  Adams's  countenance  that  he 
was  in  trouble,  and  rallied  him  upon  it.  Adams  evaded 
it,  at  first,  not  knowing  how  to  broach  the  subject  to 
the  best  advantage.  But  the  two  being  personal 
friends,  though  differing  politically  down  to  that  time, 
Jefferson  insisted  upon  knoAving  the  cause  of  his 
trouble,  believing  it  was  of  a  public  nature. 

Upon  this  Adams  said:  "Mr.  Jefferson,  you  are 
President  of  the  United  States,  and  I  am  sworn  to  sup- 
port its  Constitution,  and  it  is  proper  that  you  should 
know  the  cause  of  my  trouble ;"  and  in  a  confidential 
interview  gave  him  all  the  information  he  had  ob- 
tained on  the  subject,  and  added,  "I  can  not  go  with 
my  party.     If  that  is  Federalism,  I  am  done  with  it." 

In  the  course  of  that  Winter  Mr.  Pickering,  the 
other  Senator  from  Massachusetts,  wrote  a  long  letter 
to  a  friend  in  Boston,  assuming  to  show  that  the  Ad- 
ministration at  Washington  was  under  French  influence. 
This  was  intended,  and  was  printed  and  circulated 
extensively  in  New  England  for  political  effect.  A 
copy  of  it  was  sent  to  Mr.  Adams,  who  answered  it  so 
overwhelming^  that  the  party  cast  him  off,  and  the 
Republicans,  of  course,  felt  proud  of  such  an  acquisition. 
Mr.  Adams,  knowing  that  he  could  not  be  re-elected  to 
the  Senate,  declined  being  a  candidate;  and  it  was  said 
that  Mr.  Jefferson,  or  Mr.  Madison,  who  succeeded  him 
in  the  Presidency,  found  means,  by  an  agent,  to  pur- 
chase of  Captain  Henry  the  correspondence  he  then 
had  for  $50,000  out  of  the  secret  service  money.  Sub- 
sequently the  correspondence  was  published  to  the 
world. 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  127 

The  design  to  divide  the  Union,  however,  was  not 
abandoned.  As  the  war  was  expected  for  some  years 
before  it  occurred,  the  measures  to  divide  the  "Union 
were  still  in  progress  of  preparation,  and  never  folly 
exploded,  till  after  the  infamous  Hartford.  Convention 
in  1814. 

In  the  mean  time  Hull  was  Governor  of  Michigan, 
and  was  expected  to  have  the  command  of  the  army  in 
that  region  in  case  of  war.  Brock  was  Governor  and 
commanding  General  in  Upper  Canada,  just  across  the 
river  from  Detroit,  and  the  two  had  opportunities  for 
private  interviews  and  correspondence,  whatever  it 
might  be. 

In  the  Winter  of  1811  and  '12  Hull  was  in  Wash- 
ington, when  and  where  the  plan  of  operations  was 
adopted.  From  thence,  before  going  to  Ohio  to  take 
command  of  the  two  regiments  of  volunteers  raised 
there  under  Colonels  Cass  and  M' Arthur,  before  war 
was  declared,  he  went  through  New  England,  when  he 
had  ample  time  and  opportunity  to  arrange  matters 
for  future  operations.  The  plan,  as  it  leaked  out,  was 
for  him  to  surrender  Detroit,  which,  it  was  supposed, 
would  draw  General  Dearborn,  with  all  the  regulars, 
from  New  England  to  the  North-West.  A  British  fleet 
and  army  were  to  hover  on  the  coast;  the  Governors  of 
the  States  were  to  refuse — as  some  of  them  did — to  call 
out  the  militia  at  the  proclamation  of  the  Government, 
and  the  people  were  to  rise  en  masse  and  declare  for  a 
separation  from  the  Union,  and  for  annexation  to 
England;  and  that  the  matter  should  be  sure,  by  a 
simultaneous  action,  the  day  for  the  surrender  of  De- 
troit was  fixed  upon.  I  can  account  for  its  being 
known  at  the  Tory  ;' head-quarters  "  in  Connecticut,  on 
the  day  of  its  occurrence,  upon  no  other  principle. 

Nor  is  it  possible  to  account  for  all  of  Hull's 
movements   previous    to    the    surrender,    without   the 


128  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

admission  of  these  facts  substantially,  if  not  in  detail, 
namely : 

1.  Before  he  reached  Detroit  with  his  army,  say, 
while  at  the  River  Raisin,  the  news  of  the  declaration 
of  war  reached  him,  and  this  was  known  in  Maiden 
before  it  was  known  at  Detroit.  The  court-martial 
that  tried  him  seemed  to  be  satisfied  that  he  sent  the 
news  to  Maiden,  as  my  sergeant  affirmed  he  did. 

2.  He  neglected  to  take  Maiden  when  he  could  have 
done  it  with  ease,  either  before  he  reached  Detroit,  or 
while  he  lay  in  Sandwich. 

3.  He  retreated  from  Sandwich  to  Detroit  before 
there  was  any  danger  of  an  attack,  or  any  force  of  the 
enemy  sufficient  to  annoy  him  was  in  the  country. 

4.  He  sent  Colonels  Cass  and  M' Arthur  with  their 
commands  away  on  a  fool's  errand,  just  in  time  to  have 
them  out  of  the  way  when  Brock  was  to,  and  did,  come. 

5.  He  refused  to  let  his  men  fire,  though  the  guns 
were  in  position,  loaded,  and  the  matches  lighted  by 
them,  and  could  have  defeated  the  enemy  with  ease. 
Had  the  fight  begun,  Cass  and  M' Arthur  were  near 
enough  to  have  cut  off  the  enemy's  retreat. 

6.  The  very  manner  in  which  Brock  marched  his 
troops  up  to  Detroit  showed  that  he  expected  no  resist- 
ance, doing  so  in  column  and  in  the  road,  in  the  face 
of  guns  enough  to  have  blown  him  and  his  army  to 
flinders. 

Now,  taking  all  these  things  into  view,  the  two  inci- 
dents, the  one  in  Bridgeport  and  that  given  by  the 
sergeant,  link  in  with  the  chain  of  events  known  to 
history,  so  as  to  show  the  truth  of  them. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  129 


CHAPTER  VII. 


ABOUT  the  time  of  the  landing  of  the  prisoners  at 
Carrying  River,  Governor  Shelby,  of  Kentucky, 
arrived  with  his  mounted  volunteers.  They  were  in- 
tended for  a  land  march.  But  the  taking  of  the  fleet, 
clearing  the  lake  of  the  enemy,  changed  the  order  of 
march,  and  boats  being  provided,  a  water  march  was 
decided  on,  as  easiest  and  quickest.  Their  horses  were 
turned  out  on  the  peninsula,  and  a  fence  made  of  fallen 
trees  across  the  portage,  to  keep  them  there;  except 
Colonel  Johnson's  regiment,  which  went  round  the 
head  of  the  lake  by  land. 

The  first  move  was  to  Put-in-Bay  Island.  The  boat 
I  went  in  was  an  old  Mackinaw  trading-boat,  of  less 
size  than  the  new  ones.  Twenty-seven  of  us  got  into 
it  and  started.  The  wind  soon  rose  to  a  gale,  dead 
ahead.  The  sail  vessels,  which  were  full  of  men,  were 
obliged  to  come  to  anchor,  and  all  the  open  boats, 
except  ours,  turned  back.  Ours  was  so  heavily  loaded, 
that  to  turn  in  the  troughs  of  the  seas  would  have 
been  to  founder,  when  most  likely  all  would  have  been 
drowned. 

I  sat  at  the  helm,  and  apprised  the  officer  in  com- 
mand of  the  danger  we  were  in,  and  that  our  only 
safety  was  in  keeping  the  boat  in  the  wind's  eye,  and 
to  double-man  the  oars,  keeping  one  or  two  to  bail  out 
the  water  that  dashed  over  the  sides.  The  top  of  the 
boat  was  not  more  than  one  foot  above  the  water  when 
in  a  calm,  and  of  course  most  of  the  swells  would  throw 
the  spray  over  her  sides.  I  sat  at  the  helm  for  eleven 
hours  without  any  change,  to  go  about  twelve  miles. 
The  officer  in  command  soon  discovered  my  nautical 


130  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

skill,  and  executed  my  directions  as  if  I  had  been  in 
command.  He  afterward  was  heard  to  say  that  he  did 
not  believe  there  was  a  man  in  the  brigade  that  could 
manage  a  boat  as  well  as  I  could.  So  much  for  what  I 
learned  when  a  boy,  on  the  Hudson  Eiver. 

While  the  wind  had  full  sweep  upon  us,  we  moved 
but  slowly,  and  sometimes  could  hardly  see  any  head- 
way. But  as  we  came  under  the  lee  of  the  island  the 
wind  had  less  effect,  the  water  became  smoother,  and 
finally,  when  close  in  shore,  a  calm,  when  we  made 
better  headway. 

As  we  rounded  the  island  and  came  in  along-side  of 
the  shipping,  we  saw  evidence  of  the  havoc  of  battle. 
The  Detroit  had  not  a  spar  left  standing.  The  masts, 
bowsprit,  and  the  davits  were  all  shot  away.  Her  side 
next  to  our  guns  in  the  battle  was  so  full  of  balls,  shot, 
and  holes  made  by  heavy  shot,  that  it  seemed  to  me 
that  a  man's  hat,  laid  on  her  at  any  place,  would  touch 
more  or  less  of  them.  The  balls  sticking  in  her  sides, 
while  the  Lawrence  was  bored  through  and  through, 
showed  the  difference  in  the  effects  produced  by  long 
and  short  guns.  The  Detroit  was  armed  with  the  long 
guns,  sold  by  Hull,  while  the  Lawrence  and  Niagara 
were  armed  with  carronades.  The  few  shot  that  went 
through  the  sides  of  the  British  wooden-walls,  were 
from  the  long  guns  on  our  gun-boats. 

On  reaching  the  beach,  to  land,  we  saw  a  twelve- 
pounder  gun  with  the  muzzle  blown  off  in  the  action. 
It  was  supposed  that  a  ball  from  the  enemy  entered 
the  muzzle  of  the  gun,  at  the  instant  of  firing  it,  and 
about  a  foot  of  it  was  blown  off,  which  rendered  it  use- 
less for  battle. 

We  learned  from  the  prisoners  that  Commodore 
Barkley  had  two  pet  bears  on  board  of  his  vessel,  and 
took  also  two  Indians,  whom  he  placed  in  the  round 
tops,  with  rifles,  to  shoot  Commodore  Perry,  and  other 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  131 

American  officers.  But  the  thunder  of  the  first  broad- 
side so  frightened  them  that  they  left  their  positions 
and  went  below  decks,  and  coiled  themselves  away  in 
the  cable  tier;  and  the  bears  following  the  example  of 
their  brethren  of  the  forest,  did  the  same  thing,  and 
the  whole  four  were  found  there  in  a  heap  after  the 
action.  I  saw  the  Indians  among  the  prisoners,  the 
pictures  of  despair;  they  were  delivered  over  to  our 
Indians.  But  the  bears,  I  believe,  were  claimed  by  the 
sailors,  as  belonging  to  the  ship. 

While  on  this  island,  the  water  of  the  lake  being 
rather  too  warm  to  be  palatable  for  drinking,  and  hear- 
ing of  a  cave  somewhere  in  the  island  in  which  cool 
water  could  be  obtained,  I  went  for  it,  and  soon  found 
a  large  string  of  men  going  to  and  returning  from  it 
with  canteens  and  camp-kettles.  The  mouth  of  the 
cave  was  rather  low,  so  that  we  had  to  crawl  in  and 
out,  and  so  much  water  had  been  spilled  there,  it  was 
quite  muddy  and  slippery.  We  had  to  use  candles  or 
torches.  There  was,  inside,  a  large  room,  the  arch 
overhead  being  perhaps  ten  feet  high.  The  water  was 
on  one  side  of  it;  and  the  motion  of  the  water,  and  the 
presence  of  fish,  proved  that  there  was  a  communica- 
tion with  the  lake.  The  water  was  evidently  lake 
water,  but  was  cooler  than  that  which  was  daily  under 
the  influence  of  the  sun  and  the  warm  air.  But  the 
atmosphere  in  the  cave  was  oppressive,  probably  more 
so  than  common,  from  the  great  number  of  heated 
human  bodies,  and  their  breath,  that  were  constantly 
going  in  and  out.  I  soon  grew  tired  of  this  subter- 
ranean abode,  and  got  out  as  soon  as  possible,  with  no 
desire  to  visit  caves  any  more,  at  least  such  ones. 

While  on  this  island,  a  deserter  for  the  fourth  time 
was  tried,  condemned,  and  shot.  This  thing  of  shoot- 
ing men  judicially  is  very  serious  business.  The  army 
is  formed  into  a  hollow  square  on  ground  rising  from 


132  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  center  each  way,  if  to  be  had,  so  that  all  can  see  to 
advantage.  The  condemned  man  is  placed  on  his  knees 
in  the  center,  and  twelve  men  are  detailed  to  do  the 
work  of  death.  Their  guns  are  loaded  by  the  officers, 
one  of  which  is  left  without  a  ball,  but  the  men  know 
not  which  it  is,  so  that  each  one  hopes  it  is  his.  The 
prisoner  is  blindfolded  and  shot  at  the  word  of  com- 
mand, "ready,  aim,  fire."  If  he  is  not  killed  at  the 
first  shot,  the  guns  are  reloaded  and  the  firing  repeated 
as  soon  as  possible.  No  one  feels  like  deserting  after 
such  a  sight. 

One  such  scene,  of  an  impressive  character,  occur- 
red at  Seneca,  except  the  shooting.  A  sentinel  was 
found  asleep  on  his  post,  and  condemned  to  be  shot. 
All  things  were  prepared  as  usual — the  army  in  a 
hollow  square;  the  man  upon  his  knees  and  hood- 
winked; the  guard  in  position  with  their  guns  loaded. 
The  word,  "ready,"  was  given,  when  the  poor  fellow 
turned  pale,  and  expected  to  hear  the  other  words, 
"  aim,  fire,"  and  to  fall  dead  and  appear  before  the  Judge 
of  all  men.  But  that  instant  the  General  stepped  up 
and  said,  "As  you  were."  This  brought  the  guns  to  a 
shoulder  of  arms,  and  the  pardon  was  granted,  accom- 
panied with  a  lecture  to  the  troops  on  the  importance 
of  a  sentinel's  keeping  awake  on  his  post ;  because  the 
lives  of  the  whole  army  might,  possibly,  be  lost  as  the 
consequence  of  such  sleep. 

As  soon  as  the  poor  fellow  could  get  the  chance,  he 
went  to  the  General  and  fell  on  his  knees,  and  thanked 
him  for  the  pardon ;  declaring  that  he  not  only  saved 
his  body  from  death,  but  his  soul  from  hell.  "For," 
said  he,  "I  am  not  prepared  to  die.  I  have  neglected 
my  soul's  salvation,  and  I  expected  to  be  in  hell  before 
this  time.  And  now,  if  God  spares  me,  I  will  be  a  good 
soldier,  and  seek  for  his  mercy  and  pardon."  The 
General  is  said  to  have  wept,  and  sent  him  away  with 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  166 

his  blessing.  This  man  got  through  the  war  safe,  got 
home,  obtained  religion,  married  and  raised  a  family. 

I  have  often,  since,  thought  of  that  man,  and  com- 
pared his  case  with  that  of  Adam.  If  he  had  died,  his 
sin-born  posterity  must  have  died  in  and  with  him,  as 
they  seminally  existed  in  him,  at  the  time  he  was  con- 
demned to  die ;  they  were  in  him,  in  the  same  sense, 
when  he  was  pardoned;  and  in  consequence  of  that 
pardon  he  was  enabled  to  propagate  his  species.  But 
who,  with  any  traits  of  humanity  or  kindness  about 
him,  would  think  of  taking  up  his  children  and  execut- 
ing them  for  the  sin  of  their  father,  and  that  for  which 
he  was  pardoned  before  they  were  born?  And  who, 
with  any  decree  of  Christianity  about  him,  could  imag- 
ine that  God  would  send  infants  to  hell  for  the  sin  of 
Adam,  for  which  he  was  pardoned  long  before  they 
were  born? 

The  army  moved  from  Put-in-Bay,  in  open  boats, 
accompanied  by  the  shipping  that  had  not  been  crip- 
pled in  the  battle,  unto  the  middle  sister  island.  Here 
the  troops  under  General  M' Arthur,  from  Fort  Meigs, 
met  us.  That  little  island  was  alive  with  men  ;  said  to 
number  fifteen  thousand.  We  had  not  been  long  on  it 
before  some  one  discovered  leeks,  a  kind  of  wild  onion ; 
and  we  having  been  so  long  without  any  vegetable  of 
the  root  kind,  were  all  eager  for  something  besides 
bread  and  meat.  As  soon  as  the  discovery  was  made, 
the  news  of  it  spread  like  wild-fire,  and  every  man 
that  could  was  scratching  and  digging  with  his  fingers, 
scalping-knife,  or  a  stick,  and  probably  in  fifteen  or 
twenty  minutes  the  whole  island  was  dug  over.  I  got 
about  half  a  dozen,  which  I  relished  with  a  zest. 

From  this  island  we  moved  in  the  same  way,  in 
open  boats,  for  the  Canada  shore,  each  boat  carrying 
from  fifty  to  one  hundred  men.  The  boats  moved 
abreast,  about  as  far  apart  as  the  men  on  board,  when 


134  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

in  line,  two  deep,  would  fill  the  space.  The  line,  when 
landed,  stretched  about  a  mile  and  a  half.  The  place 
of  landing  was  on  the  beach  of  the  lake,  three  miles 
below  Maiden.  In  two  minutes  from  the  time  the  first 
boat  struck  the  beach,  the  whole  line  was  formed,  ready 
for  action.  Before  reaching  the  shore  I  saw  the  inhab- 
itants about  the  house  in  front  of  us,  and  said  there  was 
no  fighting  to  be  done  there,  for  the  enemy  would  not 
leave  their  own  people  between  us  and  them ;  and  so  it 
proved.  Every  drum  and  fife  was  playing  "  Yankee 
Doodle"  till  we  struck  the  beach,  and  then  all  was 
silent.  I  sprang  from  the  boat  to  the  beach  at  the  same 
moment  General  Harrison  did,  and  within  six  or  eight 
rods  of  him,  and  had  my  company  in  line  as  soon  as 
a ny  other. 

On  landing,  and  seeing  no  enemy,  Harrison  and 
suite  went  up  to  the  house,  the  inmates  of  which  had 
now  retreated  within  doors;  but,  being  assured  that 
they  would  not  be  hurt,  they  opened  the  door,  and  in- 
formed the  General  that  the  fort  at  Maiden  was  burned, 
and  the  enemy  had  retreated  up  the  Detroit  River. 
Upon  this  a  scout  was  sent  to  the  woods,  in  the  rear 
of  the  farm,  and  the  army  faced  to  the  left,  and 
marched  to  Maiden,  and  took  possession  of  the  smolder- 
ing ruins. 

In  crossing  the  lake  we  were  supplied  with  jerked 
beef  and  hard  bread,  which  we  carried  in  our  knap- 
sacks— haversacks  not  then  being  known  to  military 
science.  We  had  neither  tents  nor  blankets.  The  boats 
were  too  much  crowded  with  men  to  carry  any  thing 
else.  The  shipping  followed,  with  provisions  and  bag- 
gage, as  fast  as  they  could ;  but,  having  no  steam  vessels 
then,  our  fleet  depended  upon  the  wind,  which  being 
light,  they  were  behind  us  some  distance.  Some  half 
a  dozen  large  Mackinaws  had  six,  nine,  and  twelve- 
pounder  guns,  on  field-carriages,  on  board,  on  our  left, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  135 

and  being  propelled  by  oars,  kept  pace  with  us,  but  we 
had  no  use  for  them. 

That  night  we  camped  in  and  about  the  ruins  of  the 
old  fort,  in  the  open  air.  It  rained  on  us,  but  we  had 
to  take  it.  It  was  reported  that  the  Indians  intended 
to  attack  us  in  the  night,  or  at  day-break,  which  was 
their  usual  time  of  attack;  and  our  lines  were  formed 
for  defense,  and  we  lay  on  our  arms,  as  a  precaution. 
But  the  idea  of  their  burning  their  fort,  and  retreating, 
and  then  attacking  us  in  the  open  field,  was  so  absurd 
that  little  faith  was  placed  in  the  report.  Still,  "as 
caution  is  the  mother  of  safety,"  we  were  arranged  for 
the  worst,  if  it  did  come. 

I  lay  down  on  a  piece  of  board,  before  the  camp  fire, 
to  keep  out  of  the  mud,  having  no  covering,  with  my 
cartridge-box  under  my  head,  and  my  gun-lock  between 
my  thighs,  so  as  to  keep  it  dry.  In  the  night  I  awoke, 
and  found  my  right,  or  upper,  ear  full  of  water,  and  my 
right,  or  upper,  side  wet  to  the  skin,  and  turned  over 
to  let  the  water  drain  out  of  my  ear.  In  the  morning  I 
found  some  men  worse  off  than  I  was,  for  they  lay  in 
ponds  of  water. 

My  company  was  soon  placed  in  a  vacant  house,  out 
of  the  rain,  and  finding  wood,  we  had  rousing  fires  to 
dry  by.  As  some  of  the  vessels  came  up,  with  flour  and 
pork,  the  bakers  were  set  to  work,  and  by  eleven  o'clock 
\vTe  had  bread  and  pork  to  eat.  We  had  no  cooking  ap- 
paratus with  us,  but  necessity  is  the  mother  of  inven- 
tion, and  we  got  small  sticks  and  rods,  sharpened,  and 
stuck  the  slices  of  pork  on  them,  and  held  them  in  the 
blaze  of  the  fire  till  cooked.  This,  on  bread,  tasted' 
good  to  hungry  men,  and  I  thought,  if  ever  I  got  home, 
I  would  try  it  again  ;  but  at  home,  and  in  the  absence 
of  the  appetite,  it  was  not  so  sweet. 

We  marched  from  Maiden  to  Sandwich  in  line,  ready 
for  battle  at  any  moment.     Colonel  Johnson's  mounted 


136  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

men,  at  the  same  time,  moved  up  the  right  bank  of  the 
river  to  Detroit,  and  found  the  fort  there  also  burned. 
Some  of  our  baggage  coming  up  on  the  vessels,  one 
hundred  and  sixty  of  us,  of  the  Twenty-Seventh  Regi- 
ment United  States  Infantry,  were  detailed  to  accom- 
pany the  volunteers  in  the  pursuit  of  Proctor  and 
Tecumseh.  The  rest  of  the  regulars  remained  under 
General  M' Arthur,  to  protect  Detroit  against  Indians, 
who  refused  to  follow  the  British  any  further,  and 
who  were  said  to  have  threatened  to  burn  and  plunder 
the  city.  But  finding  the  place  protected,  they  sent  in 
a  flag,  and  surrendered. 

In  the  mean  time,  Colonel  Johnson's  men  were  fer- 
ried across  the  river,  and  the  army,  consisting  now  of 
Governor  Shelby's  volunteers,  on  foot,  Colonel  John- 
son's mounted  infantry,  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
regulars,  moved  up  the  St.  Clair  Lake  and  the  River 
Thames.  General  Cass  and  Commodore  Perry  accom- 
panied General  Harrison  as  volunteer  aids. 

On  the  second  night  we  encamped  at  a  farm,  I  think 
it  was  Dawson's,  and  the  chief  officers  lodged  in  the 
house.  The  woman,  being  a  rampant  Briton,  gave 
Harrison,  and  the  others,  a  terrible  tongue-lashing  for 
coming  there,  calling  them  thieves  and  robbers;  and  if 
she  only  had  the  Forty-Eighth  British  Regiment — the 
one  then  fleeing  before  us — she  would  drive  the  whole 
army  away.  Among  other  lamentations,  she  said  she 
should  not  have  a  bee-hive  left  till  morning.  The 
General  replied,  "Madam,  I  will  put  a  guard  over 
the  bees."  and  gave  the  necessary  orders.  But  the 
word  got  out  among  the  men  of  the  abuse  the  woman 
had  given  the  officers,  and  the  placing  of  the  sentinel 
showed  where  the  bees  were.  If  she  had  held  her 
peace  it  would  not  have  been  known,  their  location  was 
such,  that  she  had  bees.  But  the  abuse  preparing  the 
men  for  revenge,  and  the  sentinels  having  no  objection, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  137 

they  would  be  so  long  walking  one  way  that  a  man 
would  slip  in  behind  them,  and  carry  off  a  hive  before 
they  turned  to  walk  back,  and,  when  relieved,  they 
would  help  eat  the  honey.  By  this  means  every  hive 
disappeared  before  morning;  and  the  General  told  the 
Quarter-Master  General  to  pay  for  them. 

In  retreating  the  British  had  taken  some  small  ves- 
sels, loaded  with  stores  and  provisions.  This  point  was 
as  high  up  the  river  as  they  could  be  got,  and  finding 
us  still  after  them,  they  set  fire  to  their  vessels,  carry- 
ing their  supplies  in  small  boats.  Our  friend,  Benjamin 
Hall,  who  swam  for  the  ramrod,  on  the  lake,  having 
returned  to  his  company,  and  now  being  with  us,  found 
a  sloop  burned  to  the  water's  edge,  and  resting  on  the 
mud  so  that  she  could  not  sink.  While  the  fire  was 
raging  in  one  part  of  her,  and  shells  were  frequently 
exploding,  he  found  a  barrel  of  pork,  and,  getting  some 
help,  rolled  it  up  the  bank,  knocked  in  the  head,  and  it 
was  soon  distributed  among  his  friends,  and  was  quite 
a  relief  from  jerked  beef. 

The  next  day  we  had  to  cross  the  river.  Some  did 
so  behind  the  horsemen,  some  in  canoes,  or  other  small 
craft,  and  some  forded  it  on  foot,  the  water  being  about 
waist  high.  Before  crossing,  some  Indians  were  seen 
on  the  right  bank  of  the  river,  at  whom  some  cannon- 
balls,  shot  from  a  six-pounder,  were  sent.  Colonel 
Whitley,  "fighting  on  his  own  hook,"  shot  two  of  them, 
and  swam  his  horse  across,  and  scalped  them.  But 
more  of  him  hereafter. 

On  our  march,  after  crossing  the  river,  and  before 
the  battle,  we  passed  a  large  farm,  with  buildings  cor- 
responding, having  about  sixty  bee-hives  in  the  garden, 
within  a  paled  fence.  One  of  our  men  had  been 
through  the  country  before  the  war,  and  knew  the  re- 
ported history  of  the  family,  which  he  made  known, 
and  the  Kentuckians  concluded  to  have  some  honey. 

12 


188  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Their  history,  as  reported,  was  this  :  While  men 
were  being  hung,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  for  horse- 
stealing, this  man  Avas  convicted  of  this  crime,  and  con- 
demned to  be  hung,  at  Batavia.  Two  da}Ts  before  the 
execution  was  to  have  taken  place,  his  wife  was  per- 
mitted to  visit  him  in  his  cell,  and  remained  some  time. 
When  she,  as  was  supposed,  left,  her  veil  was  drawn 
down,  and  her  head  hung  in  sorrow,  with  hands  over 
her  face,  crying  bitterly  at  the  last  parting.  Of  course 
the  jailer  made  no  very  particular  examination  as  to 
identity;  but  the  fact  was,  they  had  changed  clothes, 
and  he  left  the  prison  in  her  apparel,  and  that  night 
stole  a  horse,  and  put  for  Canada. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  the  execution,  a  large  con- 
course— for  that  country,  being  then  new — assembled  to 
see  it.  But  on  bringing  the  prisoner  out,  she  declared 
her  sex,  which  a  slight  observation  proved,  and  of 
course,  as  she  had  not  been  condemned,  nor  could  be 
executed  for  her  husband's  offense,  she  was  discharged ; 
that  night  she,  also,  stole  a  horse  and  put  for  Canada, 
where  they  soon  met ;  and  as  there  was  then  no  treaty 
stipulations  for  pursuing  criminals  over  the  line,  they 
were  now  safe. 

At  that  time  the  King  was  giving  400  acres  of  land 
to  each  new  settler;  and  supposing  the  Thames  to  be 
so  far  out  of  the  world  that  the  New  York  authorities 
could  never  find  them,  they  selected  this  as  their  future 
home,  having  a  pair  of  horses  to  begin  with,  and  out 
of  this,  the  King's  bounty,  as  it  was  called,  they  had 
made  their  present  farm  and  improvements,  and  raised 
a  large  family,  which,  as  I  afterward  learned,  were  re- 
spectable. 

The  army  was  under  strict  orders  not  to  molest 
the  inhabitants  not  in  arms  against  us,  or  take  their 
property  unpaid  for.  But  in  this  case,  as  well  as  in 
that  of  Mrs.  Dawson  the  night  before,  the  Kentuckians 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  139 

thought  they  might  take  a  little  honey  for  their  stom- 
ach's sake,  and,  accordingly,  the  fence  was  thrown 
down,  the  bee -hives  were  turned  up,  the  scalping- 
knives  introduced,  and  piece  after  piece  of  the  comb, 
and  hive  after  hive  were  taken,  till  all  but  six  of  the 
sixty  were  emptied,  leaving  the  maddened  bees  flying 
round  in  wild  confusion.  The  six  saved  were  taken 
by  the  owner  into  the  cellar.  It  was  amusing  to  see 
how  the  fellows  worked  it.  Each  had  his  gun  to  hold 
under  his  arm  while  he  turned  up  the  hive  with  one 
hand,  and  introduced  the  other  into  the  honey-comb. 
Then  they  ran  to  get  their  places  in  the  line,  meantime 
fighting  off  the  bees  which  followed  them.  The  regu- 
lars had  no  hand  in  the  affair. 

I  went  into  the  house  to  get  a  drink,  where  the 
Quartermaster-General  was  taking  an  inventory  of 
some  property  which  the  enemy  had  left  there  in  store, 
and  heard  him  tell  the  man  that  he  had  orders  to  pay 
the  inhabitants  for  the  damage  the  volunteers  might 
do,  as  they  were  uncontrollable. 

Our  regulars  were  kept  as  a  reserve,  and  when  the 
enemy  was  discovered  in  line,  ready  to  receive  us,  and 
our  men  arranged  for  the  attack,  the  General  rode  back 
to  us  and  said,  "I  don't  know  how  these  volunteers 
will  act.  If  they  give  way,  my  whole  dependence  is  on 
you,  and  if  you  fail  me,  I  '11  bury  my  head  in  sorrow 
and  disgrace  to-day."  But  he  had  no  occasion  for  that. 
The  impetuosity  of  the  Kentuckians  was  such  that  the 
enemy's  regulars  broke  and  fled  at  the  first  fire,  fol- 
lowed by  a  charge,  and  were  soon  secured  as  prisoners, 
except  about  forty  dragoons,  who  fled  with  Proctor 
and  Elliott,  the  Colonel,  who  had  command  of  the  In- 
dians, both  here  and  at  the  massacre  at  the  River 
Eaisin  the  previous  Winter.  Some  of  Colonel  Johnson's 
mounted  men  followed  the  fugitives  some  distance. 
Elliott's  horse  stumbled  and  threw  his  rider,  and  our 


140  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

men  were  too  close  to  allow  him  to  remount.  He  took 
to  the  woods  in  a  wind-fall,  where  the  brush  and  old 
logs  were  too  thick  for  horses  to  travel,  and  he  made 
his  escape,  and  our  men  returned. 

Colonel  Johnson  engaged  the  Indians  under  Tecum- 
seh ;  but  when  they  saw  that  the  British  regulars  had 
surrendered,  they  fled  into  a  swamp,  where  the  horse- 
men could  not  go,  and  made  their  escape.  The  prison- 
ers were  placed  under  guard  of  the  regulars,  in  the 
center  of  the  general  encampment.  In  the  night  we 
were  all  aroused  and  ordered  to  our  arms,  at  the  loud 
outcry  of  a  volunteer.  He  exclaimed:  "O  Lord!  O 
Lord !  Indians,  Indians  !"  We  thought  for  a  moment 
that  they  had  attacked  our  lines.  But  it  turned  out 
that  the  man  was  asleep  and  dreaming  of  an  attack. 

Among  the  wounded  prisoners  was  the  interpreter 
and  aid-de-camp  of  Brigadier-General  Tecumseh,  who 
was  a  half-breed.  He  lay  at  the  root  of  a  tree  close 
by  my  company,  and  the  next  morning  when  the  Brit- 
ish surgeons,  with  ours,  visited  this  man,  I  stepped  up 
to  see  and  hear.  The  man  had  fifteen  buck-shot  in 
him.  Our  cartridges  had  one  ball  and  three  buck-shot, 
or  fifteen  buck-shot,  in  them ;  of  course  he  had  one 
whole  charge  in  him.  The  surgeons  all  agreed  that 
he  must  die,  and  they  could  do  no  more  for  him.  He 
was  bandaged  from  his  neck  to  his  knees,  including 
his  arms. 

While  standing  by  the  dying  man,  knowing  that 
he  was  aid  and  interpreter  to  Tecumseh,  the  conversa- 
tion between  the  surgeons  naturally  turned  upon  the 
report  of  the  death  of  that  chief.  The  Americans  in- 
sisted that  he  was  dead  ;  while  the  British  thought  that 
he  was  such  a  wily  old  dog  that  he  had  made  his  escape. 

At  this,  the  interpreter  spoke  and  said,  "He  is 
dead,  he  fell  when  I  did,"  and  then  related  as  follows  : 
"  Tecumseh  swore  that  if  Harrison  was  in  that  battle, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON".  141 

he  would  kill  him  or  lose  his  life ;  for  he  had  owed 
him  great  hatred  since  the  battle  of  Tippecanoe.  See- 
ing a  man  on  a  fine  horse,  with  a  cocked  bat  on,  and 
a  wide  wampum  belt  over  his  shoulder  to  which  his 
powder-horn  and  bullet-pouch  were  hung,  and  being 
thus  distinguished  from  every  other  man  in  the  arm}', 
he  supposed  that  it  must  be  Harrison,  and  advanced 
from  the  line  of  the  Indians  to  get  a  shot  at  him.  In 
his  advance  he  was  followed  by  other  Indians  in  the 
form  of  a  harrow  or  triangle. 

"At  the  same  time  the  white  chief  seeing  this  move- 
ment, having  dismounted  with  the  others,  moved  for- 
ward to  meet  him,  being  followed  by  his  men  in  the 
same  form.  They  both  leveled  their  rifles  at  the  same 
moment,  but  Tecumseh  got  the  first  fire  and  the  white 
chief  fell.  At  this  Tecumseh  rushed  up  to  get  the 
scalp,  followed  by  this  interpreter,  and  a  number  of 
other  Indians,  when  a  volley  from  the  white  men 
brought  the  chief  himself,  and  many  others,  to  the 
ground.  Tecumseh  being  still  intent  upon  securing 
the  scalp  rallied  again,  though  badly  wounded,  when  a 
youth  who  had  discharged  his  musket,  drew  a  pistol 
from  his  belt  and  shot  the  chief  dead."  In  half  an  hour 
after  relating  this  the  aid  and  interpreter  died. 

This  settled  the  question  with  the  surgeons  as  to  the 
death  of  the  old  chief,  who  had  been  for  many  years 
the  great  terror  of  the  North- West  frontier,  and  it  set- 
tled the  question  in  the  camp,  at  the  time,  as  to  who 
killed  him;  that  is,  a  young  man  of  Colonel  Johnson's 
regiment.  But  no  one  thought  or  said,  so  far  as  was 
known,  that  Col.  Johnson  himself  was  the  fortunate 
man.  But  on  reaching  Detroit,  the  General's  letter  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  came  to  us  in  the  papers,  in 
which  he  gave  the  credit  of  the  deed  to  Colonel  R.  M. 
Johnson.  This  news  surprised  the  army  of  the  Thames. 
No  one  doubted  the  courage  or  bravery  of  the  Colonel, 


142  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 

and  no  one  doubted  that  he  would  have  killed  him  if 
he  could  have  got  the  chance.  And,  further,  no  one 
doubted  that  the  Colonel  did  kill  a  bold  chief  who 
rushed  upon  him  while  hampered  by  his  fallen  horse, 
and  being  himself  wounded ;  but  the  chief  he  killed 
was  not  Tecumseh.  We  believed  the  General  was  mis- 
led by  some  one;  and  feeling  disposed  to  honor  the 
Colonel  for  his  distinguished  services  in  that  campaign, 
he  had  taken  it  for  granted  without  sufficient  inquiry 
as  to  the  facts  of  the  case. 

Since  that  time  so  many  have  questioned  whether 
the  Colonel  or  somebody  else  killed  that  chief,  that  it 
has  been  a  subject  of  newspaper  and  historical  contro- 
versy, and  myself  as  well  as  others  have  been  drawn 
into  it.  I  care  nothing  about  it,  only  for  the  truth  of 
history,  and  for  that  alone  I  will  give  further  evidence 
of  the  truth  of  my  statements. 

In  1848,  in  conversation  with  Colonel  James  Gentry, 
of  Belmont,  Wisconsin,  who  was  a  personal  and  politi- 
cal friend  of  Colonel  Johnson's,  when  I  related  the 
statement  of  the  interpreter  and  aid  of  Tecumseh, 
Colonel  Gentry  said  he  believed  it,  for  it  corroborated 
the  story  told  by  the  adjutant  of  Colonel  Johnson's  regi- 
ment when  he  returned  from  the  battle  on  the  Thames. 
Gentry  was  born,  and  then  lived  in  Kentucky,  in  the 
county  in  which  the  adjutant  resided.  He  was  twelve 
years  old ;  too  young  to  be  a  soldier,  or  he  would  have 
been  one  of  them.  But  like  all  Kentuckians  at  that 
time,  he  took  a  deep  interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  war, 
and  noticed  and  remembered  every  thing  that  was  said 
about  it.  This  adjutant  said  when  he  returned  home, 
that  young  King,  of  Captain  Anderson's  company,  shot 
Tecumseh  with  a  pistol. 

Since  then  I  have  seen  it  stated  that  Captain  An- 
derson, who  for  many  years  was  State  Treasurer  of  Ken- 
tucky,  still  says  that  }~oung  King  killed  Tecumseh  ;  and 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  143 

in  the  Spring  of  1861  I  met  with  John  Booth,  Esq.,  of 
Avoca,  Wisconsin,  who  was  in  Colonel  Johnson's  regi- 
ment, and  in  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  and  knew  young 
King,  and  heard  him  tell  where  he  was  when  he  fired 
through  a  bush  or  fallen  tree,  and  where  he  hit  him; 
and,  on  examining  the  dead  body,  and  a  certain  fork  of 
a  fallen  tree  through  which  he  fired,  he  found  all  the 
marks  as  King  had  stated,  and  no  one  in  the  regiment 
doubted  that  King  was  the  killer  of  the  great  chief. 
Booth,  like  Gentry,  was  a  personal  and  political  friend 
of  Johnson's,  but  could  not  sacrifice  truth  to  honor 
their  friend. 

The  white  chief  who  fell  by  the  fire  of  Tecumseh 
was  recognized  at  once,  by  the  Americans,  as  being 
Colonel  Whitley.  The  Colonel  could,  it  was  said,  have 
commanded  a  regiment  under  Governor  Shelby,  but  he 
declined,  preferring  to  "  fight  on  his  own  hook,"  and  he 
was  permitted  to  go  when  and  where  he  pleased.  If  he 
heard  a  gun  on  either  wing,  front  or  rear  of  the  army, 
his  fleet  horse  was  put  upon  the  run  to  see  what  it  meant, 
and  if  a  fight,  to  share  in  it.  He  was  clad  in  Kentucky 
jeans,  hunting-shirt  and  pants.  He  had  on  his  left 
shoulder  a  wide  wampum-belt,  which  held  his  powder 
and  bullet-pouch,  as  above  described;  a  leather  girdle 
round  his  waist,  to  which  was  attached  a  tomahawk 
and  scalping-knife.  His  rifle  was  long  and  highly 
mounted  with  silver.  His  horse  was  a  tall  bay,  slim 
legged,  and  looked  like  a  racer.  On  the  d&y  of  the 
battle,  and  before  it,  as  previously  stated,  he  shot  two 
Indians  across  the  river,  and  swam  his  horse  over, 
climbed  the  bank,  scalped  them,  and  returned.  I  saw 
him  come  up  the  bank,  on  his  return  from  one  of  these 
feats.  He  was  a  brave  and  daring  warrior  from  his 
youth,  and  his  death  was  greatly  lamented  as  a  public 
calamity. 

On  our  return   to  Detroit  we  met  a  gale  of  wind 


144  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  heavy  rain,  and  the  boats  conveying  the  chief 
officers'  baggage  were  driven  into  the  mouth  of  a  little 
stream  that  empties  into  Lake  St.  Clair,  some  twenty 
or  twenty-five  miles  from  Detroit.  Here  we  camped 
without  tents,  shelter,  or  supper;  but  we  found  wood 
and  made  large  fires.  In  some  way,  I  never  knew  how, 
some  of  the  men  being  wet,  cold,  and  hungry,  were  in 
quest  of  something  to  eat,  when  they  found  in  a  boat  a 
keg  of  brandy,  from  which  they  drew  large  rations. 
Others  got  possession  of  the  secret,  and  drew  also  till 
the  keg  was  emptied.  "When  the  officers  sought  for  a 
little  of  the  creature  comfort,  the  keg  proved  to  have 
leaked  it  all  out.  Of  course,  they  suspected  the  soldiers, 
but  they  might  as  well  have  looked  for  a  needle  in  a 
haymow  as  for  the  man  or  men  who  had  tapped  the 
Governor's  stores.  If  they  had  visited  the  camp-fires 
near  by  them  they  could  have  found  a  number  who 
were  much  the  worse  for  liquor;  but  what  liquor,  or 
where  it  came  from,  would  have  been  a  difficult  ques- 
tion to  be  answered,  except  by  the  men  themselves. 

On  reaching  Detroit  the  volunteers  left  for  their 
homes,  taking  the  prisoners  with  them  as  far  as  Chi  Hi  - 
cothe,  Ohio,  and  General  Harrison  took  some  of  the 
regulars  on  board  the  fleet  and  went  down  the  lake, 
leaving  a  part  of  the  regulars,  including  my  regiment, 
to  guard  the  city,  and  the  Canada  shore,  Sandwich  and 
Maiden. 

To  prepare  for  Winter  we  had  a  heavy  job  before 
us.  The  British  had  burned  the  fort,  leaving  nothing 
but  the  heavy  earthworks.  They  left  nothing  combus- 
tible, not  a  board  or  stick  of  timber,  and  we  wTere 
compelled  to  go  to  the  woods,  from  one  to  three  miles 
distant,  or  to  the  islands,  still  further,  to  get  logs  and 
poles  with  which  to  build  huts  to  winter  in.  Until 
these  could  be  got  ready,  we  occupied  tents  and  vacant 
houses  in  the   city.     Here  began  and  ended   a  great 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  145 

mortality  among  the  soldiers,  which  carried  off  about 
eight  hundred  men,  more  than  all  the  loss  in  this  cam- 
paign by  the  casualties  of  war  on  this  frontier.  The 
surgeons  treated  their  patients  as  for  common  bilious 
attacks,  but  the}T  died  as  many  as  six  or  eight  a  day. 
The  surgeons  had  been  careless,  and  more  intent  upon 
their  own  comforts  than  those  of  the  sick,  until  they 
became  alarmed  for  their  reputation  and  office,  when, 
by  a  post-mortem  examination,  they  discovered  the 
nature  of  the  disease,  and  then  soon  put  a  stop  to  it.  I 
was  attacked  among  others,  as  I  supposed,  with  bilious 
fever,  in  part,  if  not  in  whole,  from  the  foul  water  I 
drank  while  crossing  the  portage  from  Sandusky  Bay 
to  the  mouth  of  Carrying  Eiver. 

I  was  taken  with  vomiting  and  diarrhea  in  the 
night,  which  continued  till  there  seemed  to  be  nothing 
left  in  me  for  the -disease  to  work  upon.  I  took  a  paper 
from  the  shelf  containing  tartar  emetic  and  calomel, 
left  for  a  sick  soldier,  but  which  he  refused  to  take,  and 
I  swallowed  the  whole  of  it.  It  was  designed  for  two 
or  three  potions,  and  its  operations  were  very  severe. 
Indeed,  I  have  often  since  wondered  that  it  had  not 
killed  me  at  once.  Its  effects  Avere  such  that  I  could 
neither  stand  nor  sit  up,  but  had  to  lie  down  on  the  floor 
helpless,  and  could  only  roll  over  and  let  the  green  bile 
run  out  of  my  mouth,  as  thick  as  jelly.  Having  an 
iron  constitution,  by  the  blessing  of  God  I  weathered 
the  storm,  and  having  a  paper  of  Peruvian  bark,  which 
was  picked  up  while  following  the  British  up  the 
Thames,  which,  among  other  things,  they  threw  away 
to  expedite  their  retreat,  I  used  of  it  freely,  and  had 
exceedingly  good  health  the  balance  of  my  time  in  the 
army. 

Our  regiment  and  one  company  of  artillery  occupied 
the  fort.  My  company  was  detailed  for  artillery 
service,  it  requiring  the  two  companies  to  man  the  guns 

13 


146  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

mounted  on  the  platforms.  Two  of  these  were  assigned 
to  me  to  drill  on,  and  handle  in  ease  of  action,  with  a 
complement  of  men  to  man  them.  Such  was  the  skill 
and  activity  with  which  our  comj>any  handled  the  guns, 
we  took  the  palm  off  the  other  company,  though  they 
were  regular  artillerists. 

We  spent  the  Winter  as  hest  we  could.  We  had  to 
procure  our  own  wood,  at  least  to  send  men  to  the  woods 
to  chop  it,  while  the  public  teams  hauled  it.  When  not 
engaged  in  this,  or  in  drill  or  police  duty,  the  men 
amused  themselves  as  the  men  of  the  world  usually  do, 
frequently  in  sinful  amusements.  My  office,  and  the  ex- 
tra duties  I  performed  in  it,  kept  me  pretty  well  em- 
ployed;  for,  in  fact,  I  not  only  did  my  own  duty,  but 
much  that  belonged  to  the  Captain  and  other  officers  of 
the  company  to  do.  As  is  usual,  the  willing  horse  is 
apt  to  be  overloaded  or  hard  pressed ;  so  it  was  with 
me.  The  officers  found  that  I  could  do  much  that 
belonged  to  them,  and  they  left  it  for  me  to  do. 

Still  I  found  considerable  leisure  time,  and  not  feel- 
ing disposed  to  amuse  myself  as  most  did,  I  read  my 
Bible,  and  such  other  books  as  I  could  get  hold  of. 
In  the  pursuit  of  the  enemy  up  the  Thames  many 
books,  among  them  some  religious  books,  that  were 
thrown  away  were  picked  up  by  our  men.  In  the  lot 
were  some  Methodist  books,  indicating  that  there  were 
some  of  that  sort  among  the  British  soldiers,  and  those 
who  had  them  not  having  a  taste  for  such  reading,  and 
knowing  me  to  be  a  Methodist,  gave  them  to  me,  which 
I  gladly  accepted  and  read. 

While  on  the  march  I  had  seldom  the  opportunity — 
though  I  sometimes  succeeded  in  it — of  formal,  secret 
prayer;  but  in  the  fort,  where  regular  camp  duty  had 
to  be  performed,  it  was  my  duty  to  see  that  every  man 
was  in  his  quarters  at  tattoo,  9  o'clock,  P.  M.,  after 
which  I  retired  behind  the  huts,  and  at  the  breech  of  a 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  147 

cannon  had  a  time  and  place  for  secret  prayer.  There 
my  soul  was  often  greatly  refreshed  from  the  presence 
of  the  Lord. 

As  the  Spring  of  1814  opened,  new  scenes  of  warlike 
life  occurred.  Reports  were  rife  that  General  Drum- 
mond  was  coming  to  retake  Detroit  and  Maiden,  if  he 
could,  and  every  preparation  for  defense  was  made ; 
but  among  the  real  there  were  some  ludicrous  events 
connected  with  this  alarm  and  preparations  for  defense, 
and  some  that  proved  the  truth  of  the  old  adage,  that 
"  there  is  policy  in  war." 

The  British  were  gathering,  in  force,  on  the  head  of 
the  Thames,  threatening  a  descent  upon  us  at  Detroit. 
A  flag-officer  came  to  our  head-quarters  on  some  busi- 
ness, real  or  pretended,  and  while  there,  a  regiment  of 
Pennsylvania  Militia,  whose  term  of  six  months'  service 
had  expired,  demanded  their  discharge.  No  arguments 
or  patriotic  persuasions  could  induce  them  to  remain 
till  another  regiment  that  was  to  relieve  them  should 
arrive.  Their  time  was  out,  and  go  they  must,  and  go 
they  would,  and  go  they  did.  Means  were  taken  to 
have  them  leave  the  place  by  a  back  way,  and  not  to 
pass  by  the  window  where  the  flag-officer  was  quar- 
tered— being  head-quarters — but  no,  they  were  free 
men  now,  and  they  would  go  where  they  pleased,  and 
the  whole  regiment  went  by,  and  in  sight  of  the  officer, 
in  an  unarmed  and  helter-skelter  manner. 

This  must  be  counteracted,  or  the  officer  might  make 
such  a  report  to  his  chief,  as  would  induce  an  immedi- 
ate attack  upon  us.  To  do  this,  the  Seventeenth  Regi- 
ment of  Infantry,  whose  quarters  were  outside,  and  east 
of  the  fort,  just  about  sundown  shouldered  their  guns 
and  knapsacks  and  moved  stealthily  round  back  of  the 
fort,  and  down  toward  Spring  Wells ;  and  then  marched 
up  the  road  by  the  head-quarters,  straggling  along  as  if 
greatly  fatigued,  from  a  long  and  hard  march.     It  was 


148  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

beginning  to  be  dark,  so  that  they  could  not  be  seen 
distinctly  from  the  window  of  the  officer,  to  enable  him 
to  form  an  opinion  of  their  number;  but  the  line 
stretched  along  for  half  a  mile,  or  more. 

As  the  head  of  the  column  came  up  by  the  gate,  at 
head-quarters,  Colonel  Croghan,  by  order  of  Colonel 
Butler,  who  was  in  command,  went  out  to  and  con- 
versed with  the  officer  in  command  of  the  new-comers, 
to  receive  his  report.  After  talking  sometime,  while 
the  column  was  straggling  along  by,  the  new  officer 
leaned  against  the  fence,  as  if  greatly  fatigued  from  the 
long  march. 

In  the  mean  time  the  door  of  the  flag-officer's  room 
was  purposely  left  ajar,  so  that  he  could  hear  what  was 
said  in  the  hall  between  the  two  Colonels.  When 
Colonel  Croghan  came  in,  he  reported  to  Colonel  Butler 
that  the  troops  just  passing  were  under  command  of 

Major ;   that  they  were  the  advance  of  General 

's  Brigade  of  Regulars,  who  wTould  reach  there  the 

next  day;  that  this  advance  had  made  a  forced  march 
of  thirty-six  miles  that  day,  on  account  of  the  Militia's 
leaving,  of  which  they  had  learned  by  the  express  sent 
them,  thinking  possibly  they  might  be  needed,  etc. 

All  this  reached  the  flag-officer's  ear  at  nightfall. 
The  next  morning  he  was  hoodwinked  and  put  acros3 
the  river,  and  led  some  distance — too  far  off  to  see  any- 
thing of  the  force  or  fortifications  of  the  place — wdien 
he  wras  let  loose  with  a  flea  in  his  ear.  But  it  had  its 
desired  and  designed  effect;  for  the  enemy  kept  at  a 
respectful  distance,  and  made  no  attack. 

This  event  raised  a  question  in  my  mind,  as  to 
whether  a  lie  was  justifiable  in  any  case.  If  so,  cer- 
tainly this  is  the  kind  of  case  to  justify  it;  for  it  is 
probable  that  this  well-concocted  lie,  and  the  admirable 
manner  in  which  it  w7as  carried  out,  saved  many  lives, 
and  possibly  the  place  from  capture. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  149 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DUEINGr  the  suspense  about  this  expected  attack, 
a  most  ludicrous  scene  occurred  at  the  little  fort 
in  Sandwich,  in  sight  of  Detroit.  Colonel  Gratiot,  the 
Chief  Engineer,  had  condemned  some  powder,  taken 
from  the  British  in  the  previous  campaign,  and  gave 
it  out  to  the  artillery  to  drill  with,  the  burning  of 
which  was  great  sport  for  us.  "We  must  have  fired 
two  hundred  blank  cartridges  or  more. 

On  the  morning  of  the  same  day,  Captain  Puthuff, 
who  was  in  command  at  Sandwich,  sent  out  a  couple 
of  men  to  the  woods,  back  of  the  town  and  farms,  to  see 
if  there  were  any  signs  of  Indians.  About  noon  one  of 
them  came  in,  in  great  agitation,  and  without  hat  or 
gun,  and  said  the  woods  were  full  of  Indians,  who  had 
fired  upon  them,  and  he  supposed  that  his  comrade  was 
killed,  as  he  had  seen  nothing  of  him  since  the  firing. 

This,  of  course,  on  the  heels  of  the  rumor  of  attack, 
confirmed  the  idea,  and  the  little  garrison  was  put  in 
the  best  possible  state  of  defense.  The  gate  was 
barricaded ;  the  pickets  strengthened ;  the  block-house 
and  cannon  supplied  with  amunition,  and  the  men's 
cartridge-boxes  filled,  and  all  awaited  the  attack.  And 
while  thus  waiting,  the  firing  commenced  at  Detroit. 
This,  of  course,  confirmed  the  idea  of  an  attack.  And 
as  it  had  begun  at  the  main  fort,  the  lesser  ones  would 
soon  share  in  the  general  melee. 

We  first  fired  eight  or  ten  rounds  on  the  west  and 
south  angles  of  the  fort,  and  then  went  to  the  north 
and  east  angles,  and  fired  as  many  more ;  the  long 
eighteen-pounder  on  the  south-east  bastion  keeping  up 
fire  all  the  time,  making  some  twenty  rounds  for  that 


150  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

gun.  There  being  some  twenty  guns  in  all,  from  six 
thirty-two  pounders,  and  half  of  them  being  fired  as 
fast  as  possible,  at  a  time  there  was  a  great  thundering, 
and  clouds  of  smoke.  The  inhabitants  of  the  town, 
who  were  not  informed  of  the  nature  of  the  case,  were 
also  alarmed,  supposing  that  an  attack  had  been  made. 

The  officers  and  men  at  Sandwich  hearing  the  roar, 
and  seeing  the  smoke,  had  no  doubt  of  an  attack,  and 
when  they  saw  the  firing  commence. on  the  south  and 
west  angles,  presumed  that  the  attack  was  made  upon 
that  side;  when  the  firing  ceased  in  that  direction,  and 
began  in  the  other,  they  concluded  that  we  had  rej>elled 
the  enemy  on  that  side,  and  was  repelling  them  on  the 
other ;  and  when  the  firing  ceased,  and  the  smoke  had 
blown  away  so  that  they  could  see  our  flag  yet  at  the 
staff,  they  concluded  that  we  were  victors.  Being  anx- 
ious to  know  howr  the  battle  went,  they  let  an  officer 
and  some  men  down  over  the  pickets  to  cross  the  river 
and  make  the  inquiry. 

On  reaching  head-quarters,  "which  was  on  the  bank 
of  the  river,  the  officer  inquired  how  the  battle  went  ? 

"What  battle?" 

"Why,  at  the  fort."* 

"We  have  had  no  battle  there." 

"Why,  what  was  the  firing  for?" 

"  O,  Colonel  Gratiot  gave  out  some  condemned  pow- 
der for  the  men  to  drill  with,  in  blank." 

The  officer  could  hardly  credit  it ;  and  yet  dared  not 
question  it.  He  stated  the  report  of  the  scout,  an  hour 
or  two  before,  on  the  other  side  of  the  river.  This,  in 
turn,  produced  some  uneasiness  with  the  officers  in  com- 
mand. But  the  messenger  began  to  suspect  that  they 
were  badly  sold,  and  returned  home  in  that  state  of  mind. 

Before  he  got  home  the  other  soldier  returned  from 
the  woods,  walking  leisurely,  and  whistling  some  merry 
air.    On  his  coming  within  hailing  distance,  every  man 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  151 

that  could  be,  was  on  the  pickets,  and  some  were  call- 
ing to  him  to  know  something  of  his  hair-breadth  escape. 
A  ladder  was  let  down  over  the  pickets  for  him  to  get 
within  on,  and  he  expressed  his  surprise  at  the  change 
of  things  since  he  left  in  the  morning. 

On  entering  the  fort,  the  officers  inquired  of  him 
about  the  Indians. 

"  I  have  seen  no  Indians  nor  any  signs  of  them," 
was  the  reply. 

"Were  you  not  fired  upon  by  Indians?" 

"No,  sir.  There  were  some  Frenchmen  out  there 
shooting  at  game,  but  not  at  me." 

"  Well,  what  became  of  your  comrade  ?" 

"  I  do  n't  know.  He  disappeared  soon  after  we  got 
into  the  woods,  and  I  have  not  seen  him  since."  The 
coward,  it  seemed,  was  frightened  at  the  firing  of  the 
Frenchmen,  supposing  them  to  be  Indians.  But  he 
was  arrested  and  put  into  the  guard-house,  charged 
with  cowardice  and  falsehood.  The  gate  was  opened, 
and  when  the  officer  returned  from  head-quarters,  and 
reported  the  nature  of  the  firing,  they  all  felt  that  they 
had  been  badly  sold,  by  the  cowardice  of  the  fright- 
ened soldier. 

As  my  term  of  service  was  about  to  expire,  the  offi- 
cers of  my  regiment  began  to  take  measures  to  re-en- 
list me  for  the  war;  one  was  deputed  to  wait  on  me 
and  propose  that  if  I  would  re-enlist,  I  should  be  made 
sergeant-major  of  the  regiment,  and  all  the  officers 
would  sign  a  recommendation  of  me  to  the  President, 
for  a  lieutenancy ;  and,  further,  in  case  of  my  promotion, 
of  which  they  had  no  doubt,  they  would  make  up  a 
purse  to  buy  me  a  sword  and  suit  of  uniform. 

I  informed  the  officer  that  I  had  been  disappointed 
once,  and  might  be  again;  I  had  expected  that  merit 
would  be  rewarded  in  the  army.  My  merit  had  been 
acknowledged  and  promotion  promised,  but  it  had  not 


152  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

come,  and  I  should  trust  to  uncertainties  no  longer.  If 
I  had  been  promoted  when  it  was  promised,  or  even 
then,  if  a  commission  were  tendered  to  me,  I  might  ac- 
cept it,  and  continue  during  the  war,  if  I  lived.  But 
as  it  was,  I  could  do  without  Uncle  Sam  as  long  as  he 
could  without  me;  and  if  he  wanted  me,  it  must  not 
be  under  officers  whose  abilities  were  greatly  inferior 
to  my  own,  as  I  had  been.  This  was  admitted,  and 
also,  that  I  ought  to  have  had  precedence  of  any  offi- 
cer in  the  company  in  which  I  came  out,  all  of  whom 
had  now  left  and  gone  home. 

But  I  had  reasons  for  going  home  that  I  did  not 
state.  I  had  promised  God,  if  he  would  spare  me  to 
the  end  of  my  term,  I  would  return  home  and  give 
myself  to  the  work  to  which  he  had  called  me.  I 
thought,  probably,  He  had  controlled,  and  prevented 
my  promotion,  lest  if  it  had  occurred,  the  inducement 
to  remain  in  the  service  might  be  too  strong  for  resist- 
ance ;  as  it  was,  I  took  my  discharge  and  went  home. 

I  took  passage  for  Cleveland  on  a  small  schooner  of 
some  twenty  tons,  with  a  dozen  other  discharged  sol- 
diers. She  had  no  loading,  nor  ballast,  except  the  pas- 
sengers. The  captain  was  an  old  salt-water  sailor, 
who,  though  American  born,  had  been  pressed  into 
the  British  navy,  and  had  been  there  fourteen  years. 
When  the  war  broke  out  he  was  in  London,  and  went 
to  his  British  captain  and  said  that  he  could  not  fight 
against  his  country,  and  surrendered  himself  a  pris- 
oner of  war.  This  the  captain  said  he  could  not  accept; 
he  had  been  too  good  a  sailor.  "But,"  said  he,  "take 
a  furlough  for  fourteen  days,  and  go  ashore  and  rest 
yourself."  This  was  understood  to  be  a  hint  to  clear 
himself.  Being  then  in  London,  he  went  at  once  to 
the  American  Consul,  and  was  received  as  a  prisoner, 
and  thus  found  his  way  home.  He,  not  returning  at 
the  end  of  the  fourteen  days,  was,  of  course,  put  down 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON. 

a  deserter.  On  this  account  he  dared  not  enter 
army  or  navy,  lest,  if  the  fortune  of  war  should  piace 
him  in  the  hands  of  the  British,  he  should  be  hung  or 
shot  for  desertion.  He,  therefore,  was  in  the  merchant 
service,  and  on  Lake  Erie,  where  there  was  no  danger 
of  being  captured  by  his  old  masters. 

AYe  left  Maiden  at  nightfall.  The  wind  blew  a  stiff 
gale  from  the  west,  which  was  a  little  abaft  of  the  beam, 
and  kept  the  little  bark  in  the  troughs  of  the  seas,  and 
made  her  roll  heavily.  This  made  the  only  hand  and 
all  the  passengers,  except  myself,  sea-sick,  and  the  cap- 
tain and  myself  had  to  run  the  vessel  alone;  we  ran 
from  Maiden  to  Cleveland  in  twenty-two  hours,  the 
shortest  passage  that  then  had  ever  been  made.  My 
sailorship  attracted  the  attention  of  the  captain,  and 
he  offered  me  forty  dollars  a  month  to  go  as  his  mate 
on  a  larger  vessel  that  was  then  being  built  for  him, 
and  would  soon  be  ready.  This  was  something  of  a 
temptation;  but  the  convictions  of  duty,  in  another 
direction,  prevented  my  acceptance  of  the  offer. 

I  left  my  trunk  and  clothing  at  Cleveland,  and  went 
home  on  foot,  where  I  got  a  horse,  and  returned  for  my 
baggage,  conveying  it  in  bags,  after  selling  my  trunk. 
Wheels  in  that  country  were  then  out  of  the  question 
out  of  town,  except  for  road  wagons  with  heavy  teams. 

On  the  first  Sabbath  after  my  return,  I  sought  the 
house  of  God  and  his  place  of  worshij),  and  met  my 
brethren  in  a  prayer  and  class  meeting,  and  attended 
the  circuit  preaching,  which  was  now  moved,  so  as  to 
be  about  eight  miles  from  home,  which  I  had  to  travel 
on  foot. 

I  had  now  to  meet  another  trouble.  I  had  been  to 
the  war,  and  some  thought  that  fighting  and  praying 
were  incompatible  with  each  other.  The  views  then 
entertained  on  this  subject  were  very  different  from 
those   now  prevalent.      Most  people  seemed  to  think 


154  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

that  no  man  could  be  a  Christian  and  be  a  soldier. 
Probably  one  great  reason  why  such  views  obtained 
was,  that  the  Federal  party  was  then  numerous,  and 
opposed  the  war,  and  so  thought  badly  of  those  en- 
gaged in  it. 

I  met  the  objections  against  me  by  referring  to  the 
wars  of  the  Israelites,  which  were  entered  into  by  com- 
mand of  God,  and  their  victories  were  regarded  as  a 
Divine  favor  and  proof  of  Divine  approbation.  I  re- 
ferred also  to  the  Revolutionary  war;  to  "Washington's 
praying  at  Valley  Forge,  when  friend  Pitts  found  him 
on  his  knees,  and  advised  them  never  to  thank  God  for 
giving  us  freedom  and  then  oppose  the  means  he 
blessed  for  that  purpose. 

When  asked  how  I  could  pray  for  my  enemies,  and 
then  shoot  them,  I  related  the  anecdote  of  the  deacon 
in  Connecticut,  in  1813,  when  the  British  were  march- 
ing up  to  burn  the  shipping  at  Middle  town.  The  mi- 
litia was  called  out  en  masse,  the  deacon  among  the 
rest,  to  defend  their  property  and  their  homes.  He 
cleaned  up  his  old  musket,  and  marched  with  others 
to  the  field.  They  were  drawn  up  in  line  behind  a 
stone  fence  or  wall,  and  when  the  enemy  came  within 
range,  and  the  word  was  given  to  fire,  he  leveled  his 
gun  and  took  deliberate  aim,  and  prayed,  "  God  have 
mercy  on  your  souls,  while  I  kill  your  bodies!"  and 
fired  upon  those  who  were  aiming  to  kill  him.  The 
result  was,  the  enemy  was  defeated,  and  returned  to 
their  shipping  without  doing  the  intended  damage. 

Some  of  my  enemies  tried  to  make  good  their  pre- 
dictions that  I  would  backslide  in  the  army,  as  many 
others  had  done,  and  sought  for  the  evidence  from  my 
neighbors,  who  were  messmates  with  me  in  the  army. 
But  in  this  they  failed,  and  not  only  failed,  but  met 
with  very  rough  repulses  from  them  for  attempting  to 
injure  an  innocent  man  because  he  had  defended  his 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  155 

country,  and  them  with  it.  It  had  to  be  admitted  that 
I  had  sustained  my  Christian  character  unsullied,  and 
came  home  unscathed  by  the  corruptions  of  the  camp. 

My  license  to  exhort,  which  had  not  been  renewed 
while  I  was  in  the  army,  the  quarterly  conference  not 
knowing  what  the  result  would  be,  was  now  renewed, 
and  I  pursued  my  wonted  course  in  holding  religious 
meetings.  But  when  I  spoke  of  license  to  preach,  some, 
and  especially  those  of  the  Federal  party  in  politics, 
renewed  the  objection  that  I  had  been  to  the  war,  and, 
as  they  thought,  it  must  be  that  I  had  been,  like  most 
others  in  the  army,  wicked.  Some  objected  that  I  had 
not  been  to  cpllege,  nor  had  a  liberal  education.  Such 
Methodists  were  half  Congregational ist,  or  Presbyte- 
rian— the  dominant  sects  at  that  time,  in  that  country. 

After  returning  home,  and  re-entering  upon  relig- 
ious duties,  I  was  again  convicted  of  the  necessity  of 
sanctification,  the  evidence  of  which  I  had  lost,  in 
Connecticut,  when  brother  Emery  bluffed  me  off  about 
preaching.  I  now  felt  the  necessity  of  regaining  that 
evidence,  and  sought  it  as  before.  In  October,  1814, 
God,  in  mercy,  bestowed  it  upon  me.  I  now  felt 
stronger  to  bear  up  under  my  trials  and  the  opposi- 
tions I  met  with. 

In  December  of  that  year,  I  was  recommended  by 
my  class  for  license  to  preach  ;  but  not  being  able,  from 
the  distance,  to  attend  the  quarterly  conference  to  pass 
an  examination,  the  matter  was  laid  over  till  the  next 
quarterly-meeting,  which  was  to  meet  within  six  miles 
of  my  residence.  Accordingly,  on  the  15th  of  April, 
1815,  I  attended  the  quarterly-meeting,  where  Jacob 
Young  was  presiding  elder.  I  went  with  a  forlorn 
hope.  If  I  was  rejected  again  it  seemed  to  me  that  1 
must  die,  that  I  could  not  hold  up  any  longer,  but  must 
sink  and  give  up  in  despair. 

What  added  to  my  fear  was,  that  a  brother  Jones,  a 


156  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

steward,  and  an  influential  man  in  the  conference,  hav- 
ing a  Presbyterian  wife,  and  greatly  influenced  by  her 
in  his  views  about  an  educated  ministry,  was  opposed 
to  me.  But,  as  a  good  Providence  would  have  it,  he 
was  called  away  from  home  on  that  day  to  a  regimental 
training,  he  being  an  officer  in  the  militia.  If  he  had 
been  at  home,  when  the  meeting  was  held,  he  would 
have  opposed  me,  as  he  afterward  told  me,  and  if  he 
had  done  so,  the  conference  would  not  have  licensed 
me.  I  knew,  also,  that  the  presiding  elder  was  opposed 
to  me  because,  as  he  thought,  I  was  too  fast  in  asking 
for  license.  He  thought  that  young  men  should  wait 
till  they  were  called,  or  rather  dragged  out,  and  not  be 
so  forward  as  to  offer  themselves  for  the  work. 

But  why  my  mind  should  be  so  deeply  and  irrev- 
ocably impressed  that  it  was  my  duty  to  preach,  and 
be  so  intimately  blended  with  my  religious  enjoj^ment, 
and  yet  Providence  not  opening  the  way  for  me  to  do 
it,  when  I  was  willing  and  desired  to  do  so,  because  I 
felt  it  to  be  my  duty,  was  a  mystery  too  deep  for  me 
to  solve. 

I  went  before  the  conference,  and  brother  Young 
put  me  through  so  thoroughly,  and  I  answered  him  so 
much  better  than  he  anticipated,  that  his  opposition 
partially  dropped.  Some  of  my  friends  in  the  confer- 
ence urged  the  matter  so  strongly  that  I  was  licensed  to 
preach  the  Gospel  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  I  trust  that  neither  the  Church  nor  the  world  is 
any  the  worse  for  it,  but,  allowing  others  to  judge, 
the  better. 

This  quarterly-meeting  was  held  in  Hartford,  at  the 
Burg,  so  called,  near  the  line  of  Vernon,  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio,  where  I  had  some  warm  friends,  and 
who  invited  me  to  preach  for  them,  which  I  did  fre- 
quently, with  profit  to  myself  and  apparent  benefit  to 
them.     Brother  Jones  heard  me  sometimes;  but,  hav- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  157 

ing  agreed  to  accompany  his  wife  to  her  meeting  half 
the  time,  he  was  not  a  constant  hearer,  as  were  the 
other  brethren. 

It  so  happened  on  one  of  my  visits  to  that  class,  in 
September,  1815,  five  months  after  1  was  licensed,  that 
a  good  sister  died  in  peace,  on  the  day  I  was  there. 
Her  connections  were  mostly  Presbyterians,  and  were 
numerous  and  respectable,  though  her  husband  was  a 
Methodist;  yet,  to  gratify  her  connections,  a  Presby- 
terian minister  was  preferred  to  preach  her  funeral 
sermon.  Possibly,  if  one  of  our  circuit  ministers  had 
been  at  command,  he  might  have  been  invited  to  do  it. 
But  neither  the  circuit  minister  nor  the  Presbyterian 
minister  was  to  be  had.  It  was  "Hobson's  choice," 
me  or  none;  and  I  remained  in  the  place  till  the  next 
da}',  for  that  purpose. 

The  Methodists  had  their  fears  for  the  result,  and  I 
suppose  prayed  the  more  earnestly.  The  Presbyteri- 
ans, who  were  the  dominant  sect,  at  .the  time,  seemed 
to  think  that  a  sermon  on  such  an  occasion  from  one 
of  their  ministers,  would  be  of  great  advantage  to  the 
departed  spirit,  and  appeared  to  have  worse  forebod- 
ings. I  could  but  view  it  as  providential,  myself,  and 
prayed  for  divine  aid,  and  a  blessing  upon  the  people, 
that  they  might  be  satisfied  that  I  was  called  of  God 
to  the  work. 

The  effort  proved  a  successful  one.  One  of  my  best 
friends,  a  brother  in  the  Church,  told  me  afterward, 
that  he  trembled  with  fear,  and  wished  one  of  the 
circuit  preachers  had  been  there,  for  the  sake  of  our 
cause,  the  character  of  which  was  in  some  measure  at 
stake  with  outsiders.  But  when  I  was  fairly  under 
way,  he  said  his  fears  subsided,  and  before  I  had 
finished  he  said  he  would  not  have  exchanged  me  for 
either  of  the  others.  This,  of  course,  was  as  balm  to 
my  afflicted  soul;  and  this,  with  the  apparent  satisfac- 


158  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

tion  of  the  audience,  who  listened  with  a  death-like 
stillness  and  attention,  gave  me  great  encouragement. 

But  all  this  fell  below  the  gratification  I  felt  when 
brother  Jones,  who  had  opposed  me  so  long,  took  me 
by  the  arm  as  we  left  the  grave,  and  said  I  must  go 
home  with  him,  and  declared  his  satisfaction  at  my 
being  licensed,  and  tendered  me  his  house,  as  a  home, 
when  in  that  region.  From  that  time  forward,  he  was 
my  fast  and  faithful  friend,  while  I  remained  in  that 
country. 

In  February,  1816,  I  had  business  that  called  me  to 
Connecticut.  Not  having  a  horse,  or  the  means  to  buy 
one,  I  traveled  the  distance,  between  six  and  seven 
hundred  miles,  on  foot;  the  roads  being  in  the  worst 
possible  condition,  being  either  muddy  or  frozen  into 
rough  points  and  knobs.  On  my  way  I  spent  a  Sab- 
bath in  Carlisle,  the  place  of  my  conversion,  and 
preached  in  their  newly  built  church,  the  old  one,  so 
dear  to  me,  having  been  sold  and  demolished,  or  con- 
verted into  a  dwelling-house. 

From  thence  I  went  through  Harrisburg  and  Bead- 
ing, to  Easton,  on  the  Delaware  River,  and  up  it  to 
Milford,  Pike  county,  Penn.,  to  visit  my  oldest  sister, 
the  wife  of  Eev.  B.  Weed,  then  a  local  preacher  at  that 
place.  Here  I  spent  a  few  weeks  pleasantly,  and 
formed  some  useful  acquaintances,  and  learned  some 
incidents  characteristic  of  early  Methodism. 

A  brother  Doolittle  gave  me  an  account  of  his  con- 
version in  this  wise:  He  was  born  and  raised  in  the 
Dutch  Reformed  Church.  He  was  a  blacksmith  by 
trade ;  married  and  settled  on  the  Jersey  side  of  the 
river;  but  his  wife  proved  to  be  an  intolerable  scold. 
To  avoid  the  continual  clatter  of  her  tongue,  after  leav- 
ing his  work  at  night,  he  resorted  to  the  tavern,  where 
others  spent  their  evenings,  some  to  avoid  a  similar 
calamity,  and  others  from  social  inclinations. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  159 

To  occupy  the  room,  and  consume  the  fuel  without 
spending  any  thing,  seemed  to  be  ungentlemanly,  and, 
of  course,  the  drink  must  be  called  for ;  not  to  be 
churlish,  each  one  on  each  night  must  call  for  his  share, 
and  to  consume  all  this,  soon  made  regular  topers  and 
then  drunkards  of  them  all.  When  he  went  home 
under  these  circumstances,  the  storm  became  doubly 
fierce,  and  to  avoid  it  he  often  stayed  out  all  night. 
He  was  thus  on  the  high  road  to  ruin,  and  going  it 
with  rapid  strides;  all  because  his  wife. was  a  scold. 
This  is 'but  a  sample  of  thousands  of  like  cases.  I  pre- 
sume more  men  have  been  ruined  in  this  way,  by  the 
scolding  of  wives,  than  from  any  other  one  cause. 

But  death  appeared  in  his  family,  and  took  away  a 
lovely  and  beloved  child.  This  aroused  his  reflections; 
and  he  became  awakened  to  a  sense  of  his  lost  and 
ruined  condition,  and  resolved  to  flee  from  the  wrath  to 
come,  by  the  mercy  and  help  of  God.  He  forsook  the 
tavern ;  but  home  afforded  him  no  comfort.  He  would 
not,  he  dared  not  return  to  the  tavern,  for  he  saw  noth- 
ing but  death  to  soul  and  body  awaiting  him  there. 
Desiring  religious  instruction,  he  went  to  the  elder  of 
his  Church,  to  know  what  he  should  do  to  be  saved. 
The  elder  told  him  that  some  years  previous  he  had 
lost  a  child,  and  becoming  serious,  he  went  to  the 
Dominie — as  the  minister  was  called — and  related  his 
feelings.  The  Dominie  put  down  his  name  on  the 
Church  records,  and  not  long  afterward  they  elected 
and  consecrated  him  elder. 

"Is  this  all  of  your  experience?" 

"Yes." 

"Have  you  not  been  pardoned  for  your  sins?" 

"  I  don't  know,  but  I  hope  so." 

"Have  you  no  evidence  that  God,  for  Christ's  sake, 
has  forgiven  you?" 

"No;  we  don't  believe  in  that  doctrine." 


1G0  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"Well,  that  won't  do  for  me;  I  must  have  forgiveness 
for  my  sin,  or  die  and  go  to  hell."  And  leaving  the 
elder  to  his  thoughts  upon  this  subject,  he  wandered 
about  mourning  and  disconsolate.  He  had  heard  of 
the  Methodists,  but  his  prejudices,  in  common  with 
others,  who  formed  their  opinion  from  hearsay,  and  not 
from  actual  acquaintance,  prevented  his  going  to  hear 
them.  He  had  heard  his  own  minister,  but  received  no 
light  or  comfort  to  his  troubled  soul.  He  read  his 
Bible,  which  cut  him  to  the  quick;  but  how  to  claim 
and  apply  the  promises,  he  knew  not. 

In  this  state  of  mind  one  Sunday  morning,  he  pre- 
ferred to  retire  to  some  lonely  place  for  meditation  and 
prayer,  rather  than  go  to  hear  one  whom  he  now 
thought  to  be  "the  blind  leading  the  blind."  After 
reaching  a  rather  by-place,  on  his  way  to  the  woods,  ho 
heard  singing  that  seemed  to  charm  and  draw  him  to 
the  spot,  which  he  found  to  be  a  Methodist  meeting. 
As  he  could  find  no  relief  in  his  own  Church,  and  had 
heard  of  the  conversion  of  sinners  among  the  Method- 
ists, and  being  now  out  of  sight  of  his  Dutch  Eeformed 
brethren,  who  he  supposed  would  ridicule  him  if  they 
saw  him  at  such  a  meeting;  and  withal  being  on  tho 
borders  of  despair,  he  was  ready  to  do  any  thing  if 
thereby  he  could  obtain  relief.  So  he  concluded  that 
it  could  not  make  his  case  any  worse,  and  possibly  it 
might  do  him  good.  To  stay  where  he  was  he  must 
die;  to  go  in  and  hear  them  he  could  but  die,  and  he 
entered  the  house  and  took  a  seat. 

The  first  hymn  that  was  sung  began:  "Come  ye 
sinners,  poor  and  needy,"  etc.  This  struck  him  with 
mingled  surprise  and  comfort.  He  thought  within 
himself:  "How  did  they  know  the  state  of  my  mind?" 
He  had  never  heard  it  before.  "Did  they  make  it  to 
suit  the  occasion?"  Be  that  as  it  may,  it  suited  his 
case  exactly,  and  pointed  him  to  a  remedy  so  befitting 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  161 

the  circumstances  of  his  case,  that  a  feeble  hope  began 
to  rise  in  his  heart  that  there  was  mercy  for  him  yet. 
-  The  prayer  that  followed  was  of  the  same  cast,  and 
he  queried  again  in  his  mind,  "How  do  they  know 
who  I  am,  and  how  I  feel?  Who  could  have  told 
them?"  But  as  the  preacher  went  on  in  his  prayer 
for  poor  disconsolate  sinners,  for  mourning  penitents, 
and  for  the  laboring  and  heavy  laden,  he  got  his  head 
down  and  wept,  but  dared  not  get  on  his  knees,  as  the 
others  did,  lest  he  should  break  over  the  order  of  his 
Church  at  home. 

After  the  prayer,  they  struck  up  from  memory, 
no  books  appearing, 

"0,  how  happy  are  they 
Who  their  Savior  obey,"  etc. 

This  hymn  expressed  what  he  supposed  a  pardoned 
sinner  would  feel,  to  which  views  be  must  have  been 
led  by  the  Word  and  Spirit  of  God,  for  his  Dominie 
never  taught  such  things  in  his  preaching.  When  the 
text  was  announced,  "Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor 
and  arc  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  he  could 
hardly  control  himself.  He  never  had  read  it,  or  heard 
it  in  his  Church  ;  or,  if  he  had,  he  had  never  noticed  it; 
it  had  never  struck  his  attention  as  it  did  now.  He 
would  have  suspected  that  it  was  made,  or  selected 
from  some  book,  for  the  occasion,  if  he  had  not  seen 
that  it  was  read  from  the  Bible.  But  the  discourse  was 
the  climax  of  his  astonishment;  that  the  preacher 
should  so  exactly  know,  and  describe,  his  feelings;  and 
when  he  pointed  the  trembling  penitent  to  Christ,  he 
saw  hope  in  his  case.  He  had,  by  this  time,  lost  his 
prejudices,  and  almost  thought  the  preacher  was  in- 
spired; at  least  he  concluded  that  God  was  with  this 
people,  and  in  them. 

At  the  close  of  the  public  service,  class-meeting  was 
announced.     This  was  a  new  kind  of  meeting  to  him; 

14 


162  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

but  he  thought  if  it  was  of  the  sameldnd  as  the  others, 
he  wanted  to  have  a  part  in  it.  He  queried  whether  it 
was  a  public  or  private  meeting,  but  was  soon  relieved 
from  suspense  by  a  cordial  invitation  for  those  who 
were  seeking  religion  to  stay.  The  speaking  went 
on  as  usual,  one  and  another  telling  how  they  were 
awakened,  and  how  they  felt  when  under  conviction  of 
sin,  and  how  happy  they  were  when  forgiven,  and  were 
still  happy  in  striving  to  serve  God,  in  which  sweet 
emplo3'ment  they  intended  to  live  and  die. 

All  this  so  completely  described  his  feelings  then, 
and  his  desires  for  the  future,  that  he  could  no  longer 
contain  himself,  but  broke  out,  in  the  anguish  of  his 
soul,  and  said,  "I  am  that  very  sinner  you  have  sung 
to,  prayed  for,  and  preached  to,  and  I  want  to  feel  as 
you  do.  How  you  knew  the  state  of  my  case  I  do  not 
know,  but  you  have  described  it  exactly;  and  now  I 
want  you  to  pray  for  me,  that  I  may  be  as  happy  as 
you  are."  This,  of  course,  they  did,  and  he  was  soon 
converted,  and  made  happy  in  the  love  of  God. 

From  this  he  went  home,  happy  in  God,  and  not  in 
the  least  ashamed  to  own  that  he  had  been  to  Method- 
ist meeting,  and  that  God  had  forgiven  his  numerous 
and  great  sins.  He  was  assailed  by  his  Dutch  Ee- 
formed  brethren  for  turning  Methodist,  and  leaving  the 
Church  of  his  fathers;  but  he  repelled  them  by  stating 
the  facts  of  the  case,  and  assuring  them  that  while  with 
them  he  was  on  the  way  to  hell,  and  that,  unless  they 
sought  and  found  peace  with  God,  they  would  all  go  to 
hell  together,  Dominie  and  all.  His  conversion  was  the 
means  of  awakening  his  wife,  who  soon  found  pardon, 
and  was  effectually  cured  of  her  scolding,  and  they 
were  a  happy  family.  She  now  met  him  with  a  smile, 
and  home  was  sweet  to  him. 

While  here  I  was  informed  of  another  characteristic 
incident,  which   occurred   not   far  off.     A  preacher,  in 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  1G3 

discoursing  upon  sin,  so  described  the  case  of  a  man  in 
the  audience,  that  he  became  very  angry.  He  said,  on 
retiring,  "Some  one  has  told  that  man  all  that  I  ever 
did  in  my  life,  and  here  he  has  been  twitting  me  of 
it,  before  all  the  people,"  and  he  would  n't  go  to  hear 
him  again.  Some  tried  to  convince  him  that  no  one 
told  the  preacher;  that  he  had  only  guessed  at  it. 
"  No,"  said  the  man,  "  he  could  n't  guess  so  straight  as 
that;"  and,  as  the  preacher  was  not  acquainted  with 
him,  he  knew  that  some  one  must  have  told  him. 
But,  finally,  after  much  persuasion,  he  agreed  to  go 
once  more,  and  see  if  he  could  guess  so  well  again. 
The  next  discourse  was  upon  sin,  as  the  other  was,  with 
the  addition  that  some  were  ashamed  of  their  sins,  and 
would  be  angry  if  they  were  told  of  or  reproved  for 
them.  "There,"  said  the  man  to  his  friend,  "I  told 
you  so  ;  some  one  has  told  him  not  only  the  first,  but 
the  last;  and  I  won't  go  to  hear  him  any  more;"  and 
so  left  it,  that  the  informant,  whoever  he  might  be, 
might  tell  the  preacher  that  he  would  not  be  in  attend- 
ance ;  but  he  intended  to  be  there  secretly,  and  see  if 
he  could  then  tell  so  exactly  about  him.  Accordingly, 
he  went  early,  it  being  at  night,  and  hid  himself  behind 
the  door,  so  as  not  to  be  seen.  The  congregation  gath- 
ered ;  the  service  commenced,  and  went  on  as  usual. 
The  text  that  night  was,  "AYoe  to  them  that  cover 
themselves  with  a  covering,  but  not  of  my  Spirit,  that 
they  may  add  sin  to  sin."  The  preacher  described  the 
sins  of  men;  how  ashamed  they  were  of  them ;  how 
angry  they  would  be  if  told  of  or  reproved  for  them ; 
and  to  avoid  an  exposure,  would  hide,  and  skulk  round, 
under  some  covering,  but  not  of  the  Lord ;  they  would 
make  pretenses  to  goodness,  be  hypocritical,  and  dis- 
semble their  true  characters.  After  thus  explaining  the 
text,  he  exhorted  the  sinner  to  abandon  such  pretenses, 
and  repent  before  God,  and  not  vainly  try  to  cover  his 


164  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

sins  in  such  .1  wa}T;  and,  finally,  exclaimed,  "Sinner, 
come  out  from  behind  your  lurking  place,  for  God  will 
find  you  out,  and  bring  you  to  judgment."  At  this 
the  man  sprang  out  from  behind  the  door,  and  smiting 
his  fists  together,  said,  "You  are  a  devil;  I  know  you 
are,  or  you  would  n't  have  known  that  I  was  here." 

This  took  both  preacher  and  people  all  aback,  for 
they  had  heard  nothing  of  the  man  ;  only  the  few  that 
he  had  spoken  to.  The  preacher  assured  the  man  that 
he  knew  nothing  of  him.  "Ah,  but  some  one  has  told 
you  all  about  me,  and  you  have  exposed  me  before  all 
the  people;  or  else  you  are  a  devil,  and  know  these 
things."  "No,"  said  the  preacher,  "neither  the  one 
nor  the  other;  but  the  Spirit  of  God  is  enlightening 
your  mind  as  to  your  sins;"  and  pointed  him  to  Christ 
as  his  Savior.  The  man,  becoming  satisfied  of  the  truth 
of  this  exposition,  yielded  to  his  convictions,  and  sought 
and  found  peace  with  God. 

From  Milford  I  went  to  a  quartcrty-meeting  at 
Sugar-Loaf;  and  thence,  by  Ilaverstraw,  to  Sing  Sing, 
to  visit  the  tomb  of  my  father,  after  an  absence  of  ten 
years.  Another  day  brought  me  to  Banbury,  to  see 
my  mother.  Great- changes  had  occurred  among  the 
people.  The  young  had  changed  more  than  the  old. 
The  older  people  looked  more  natural  than  the  younger 
ones.  1  could  not  have  supposed  that  the  youth,  in 
three  and  a  half  years,  could  have  so  changed  that  I 
scarcely  knew  them.  But  what  struck  me  as  the  most 
singular,  and  yet  impressive  and  suggestive,  was  the 
fact,  that  when  I  left  that  place  for  the  West  they 
seemed  to  have  given  me  up,  as  if  gone  to  the  spirit 
world  ;  and  on  meeting  me  now,  would  ask  a  few  ques- 
tions about  New  Connecticut,  as  they  would  of  an  appa- 
rition from  the  spirit  world,  and  then  pass  on,  as  if  I 
had  been  dead,  and  only  casually  came  hack'  for  a  short 
visit.     It  was  a  fact  that  when  we  parted  before,  we  did 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  165 

not  expect  to  meet  again  in  this  world ;  and  this,  I  sup- 
pose, caused  the  apparent  feeling  above  described.  No 
one  but  my  mother  and  brothers  seemed  to  be  glad  to 
see  mc,  or  acted  as  if  I  was  yet  an  inhabitant  of  this 
world. 

From  Danbury  I  went  to  Bridgeport  to  see  my 
wife's  relations,  and  found  that  the  business  that  had 
called  me  to  the  place  was  a  failure,  and  I  had  my  long 
journey  and  back  for  nothing.  While  at  Bridgeport 
and  vicinity  I  preached  a  few  times  to  my  old  class- 
mates, friends,  and  outsiders.  The  Methodists  had  just 
got  possession  of  the  old  Stratfield  meeting-house,  of 
which  I  have  sj>okcn  before,  and  in  it  I  preached  to  the 
people  of  the  place.  Leaving  this  I  returned  home  to 
Ohio,  by  nearly  the  same  route  by  which  I  went  East. 

In  the  class  to  which  I  belonged  in  Ohio  was  a 
brother  who  emigrated  from  the  Susquehanna  River, 
near  the  line  between  Penns3*lvania  and  New  York, 
who  told  me  of  an  incident  that  occurred  in  that  region 
at  the  introduction  of  Methodism  there. 

"The  wonderful  and  fearful  stories  that  frightened 
many  in  those  days,  were  repeated  with  additions  to 
suit  the  tastes  of  the  reporters.  The  word  went  out 
that  'the  Methodists  have  come,  and  they  tell  the 
people  all  they  ever  did  in  their  lives;  and  not  only  so, 
but  the}'  throw  people  down  and  convert  them,  whether 
they  want  to  be  converted  or  not.'  There  was  in  the 
place  a  Quaker  couple,  who  had  no  children,  but  a  good 
deal  of  money,  so  that  one  or  the  other  had  to  sta}r  at 
home  to  prevent  a  robbery.  The  woman  nad  heard 
these  stories  about  the  Methodists,  and  believed  them. 
She  had  a  strong  desire  to  go  and  hear  for  herself,  but 
feared  the  throwing  down  and  conversion,  and  therefore 
wished  her  husband  to  accompany  her  for  a  protection 
from  sueh  a  calamity. 

"The  husband   would  not  believe  the  reports;  but 


166  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  wife  insisted  that  it  must  be  so,  for  such  and  such 
women  had  told  her  that  the  preacher  had  told  them 
of  all  their  sins,  and  told  them  of  sins  that  they  were 
confident  no  mortal  but  themselves  knew  any  thing 
about ;  and,  further,  they  had  seen  people  fall  down  as 
if  dead,  and  when  they  came  to,  were  converted  and 
professed  to  be  exceedingly  happy.  And  she  believed 
them  and  wanted  to  go  and  see  and  hear  for  herself, 
but  dared  not  go  alone  for  fear  of  conversion. 

"The  husband  not  believing  the  stoiy,  declined 
going;  but  she  insisted,  and  urged  till  he  finall}7"  con- 
sented. Now  another  difficulty  occurred ;  what  should 
the}r  do  with  their  money?  "Where  should  they  hide 
it  so  that  no  one  should  rob  them  while  gone  ?  After 
consultation,  they  put  it  in  an  old  earthen  pot  and 
placed  it  in  the  cellar  among  some  rubbish,  where  no 
one  would  think  of  looking  for  money,  and  went  to 
hear  the  strange  preacher. 

"  The  text  was  the  parable  of  the  feast,  '  Come,  for  all 
things  are  now  ready;  and  they  all  began,  with  one 
accord,  to  make  excuse,'  etc.  After  explaining  the 
feast,  and  the  invitation  to  sinners  to  come  and  par- 
take of  it,  he  spoke  of  the  excuses  named  in  the 
parable,  and  enlarged  by  enumerating  other  excuses 
made  by  the  sinner;  and  finally  said,  'And  some  people 
have  so  much  money  they  dare  not  go  to  meeting,  for 
fear  somebody  may  rob  them  while  they  are  gone. 
Even  if  they  do  go,  they  will  hide  it  in  some  place 
where  they  think  no  one  will  be  likely  to  find  it; 
it  may  be  down  cellar,  in  an  old  earthen-pot  or 
something.' 

"At  this  the  woman  sprang  to  her  feet,  and  clasp- 
ing her  hands  together,  exclaimed,  'Good  God,  did  you 
ever  hear  the  like  of  that!'  and,  pointing  to  her  hus- 
band, said,  'Didn't  I  tell  you  so?'  She  thought  surely 
he  knew  all  about  it,  and  where  the  money  was,  and 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  167 

all  they  had  to  do  was  to  watch  him,  lest,  if  disposed, 
he  might  go  and  get  it.  But  this,  like  all  other  such 
cases,  proved  to  be  the  beginning  of  their  awakening, 
which  ended  in  their  conversion." 

I  continued  my  reading  and  preaching.  One  of  the 
best  books  I  had  then  found,  except  the  Bible,  was 
Benson's  Sermons.  This  I  read  and  studied  effectually. 
It  contains  a  good  body  of  divinity  in  itself,  and  was 
of  great  use  to  me.  My  daily  labor  was  necessary  to 
ni3T  subsistence,  and  having  appointments  most  of  the 
time  on  Sunday,  from  six  to  nine  miles  from  home, 
and  having  these  distances  to  travel  on  foot,  through 
the  mud  or  snow,  to  go  and  come,  and  preach  twice 
and  meet  class  on  the  same  day — which  was  the  custom 
among  Yankees — I  had  only  evenings  to  read,  and  not 
always  having  candles,  I  made  light  wood  fires  to  read 
by.     Friends  increased,  and  I  felt  encouraged. 

In  the  Summer  of  1816,  at  the  last  quarterly-meet- 
ing before  the  Ohio  Annual  Conference  for  that  year, 
I  offered  myself  to  the  presiding  elder,  Jacob  Young, 
for  the  itinerancy,  but  was  again  rejected;  not,  how- 
ever, in  the  bluff  manner  of  brother  Eniery,  but  in  a 
tender  and  fatherly  manner.  The  reasons  he  assigned 
were,  that  having  a  family  I  could  not  get  a  support 
on  any  circuit  in  my  reach,  and  would  be  compelled  to 
locate  in  a  few  years  poorer  than  I  then  was,  and 
probably  in  debt,  and  he  could  not  think  of  calling  men 
into  the  work  under  such  circumstances,  and  therefore 
advised  me  to  remain  awhile  till  times  got  better;  in 
the  mean  time  to  continue  my  reading  and  preaching, 
and  be  thus  prepared  for  greater  usefulness  when  the 
way  for  me  did  open. 

At  this  my  heart  sunk  again ;  but  as  he  was  kind 
and  affectionate  in  his  manner,  and  the  reasons  he  gave 
wTere  of  some  force,  I  rallied  as  well  as  I  could ;  but  not 
without  some  strong  temptations  to  give  up  the  itin- 


168  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

erancy  and  fall  back  upon  my  original  plan  of  life,  and 
study  and  practice  law,  and  preach  as  I  could  as  a  local 
preacher.  I  had  obtained  some  law  books,  and  had 
read  some  in  them,  and  was  almost  ready  now  to  enter 
upon  the  study  for  a  life  business;  but  my  mind  was  so 
strongly  led  to  the  itinerancy,  and  something  within 
whispered  so  loudly  that  I  must  itinerate,  that  I  could 
not  possibly  content  myself  in  any  thing  else.  At 
other  times  in  my  gloom  I  thought  of  my  trade,  of 
opening  a  shop  and  taking  apprentices,  etc.  But  the 
same  inward  whisper  would  say,  "  You  must  travel, 
and  before  you  can  teach  apprentices,  so  as  to  be  of 
any  profit  to  you,  }-ou  will  have  to  leave  them,  and  lose 
all  your  time  and  pains  in  their  instruction,  board,"  etc. 

In  my  intercourse  with  the  membership  the  ques- 
tion was  often  put  to  me:  "Why  don't  you  travel  the 
circuit?"  expressing  the  opinion  that  I  had  gifts  to  be 
useful  in  that  way.  This,  of  course,  led  to  an  explana- 
tion of  my  case,  and  an  expression  of  a  willingness  to  do 
so  whenever  the  way  was  opened  for  me.  When  told 
of  the  objection  raised  by  brother  Young,  they  de- 
murred, and  said  they  would  receive  me  on  that  cir- 
cuit— the  one  on  which  I  lived — and  give  me  a  support; 
adding,  that  so  far  they  had  only  had  single  men,  and 
contributed  for  their  support  accordingly,  but  if  they 
had  married  men,  they  would  enlarge  their  means  of 
support  according  to  the  increase  demanded.  Four 
years  after,  when  two  of  us,  and  both  married,  were  on 
that  circuit,  we  actually  received  a  better  support  than 
the  single  men  did,  pro  rata,  though  in  that  time  two 
other  circuits  had  been  formed  off  the  old  one,  thus 
proving  the  correctness  of  the  position  and  argument 
of  the  membership. 

I  learned  afterward  that  brother  Young  thought 
that  my  offering  myself  for  the  work  was  an  indication 
of  forwardness,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  curb  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  169 

young  steed,  lest  he  run  too  fast.  This,  to  me,  was 
strange  doctrine,  for  most  of  the  preachers  of  that  day 
had  been  disobedient  to  the  call  of  God,  and  had,  as  a 
consequence,  backslid,  some  of  them  two  or  three  times 
before  they  would  yield  to  a  sense  of  duty;  and  in 
many  instances  they  would  not,  and  did  not  yield  to 
obey  God  in  this  matter,  until  his  severe  chastening 
providences  had  taken  away  property,  health,  child, 
and  even  the  wife  of  their  youth.  To  think  then  that 
willingness  to  obey  God  was  wrong,  or  that  rebellion 
was  a  recommendation,  was  to  me  a  strange  doctrine. 
I  had  supposed,  and  I  yet  believe,  as  in  the  case  of  St. 
Paul,  obedience  to  the  heavenly  vision  was  the  most 
acceptable  to  God,  and  profitable  to  the  soul,  to  the 
Church,  and  to  the  world. 

But  things  passed  on  in  this  way  till  midsummer, 
1817.  James  B.  Finley  was  now  the  presiding  elder. 
I  had  by  this  time  extended  my  acquaintance  over  the 
greater  part  of  the  circuit,  which  covered  most  of  the 
settled  portion  of  the  Western  Reserve,  east  of  the 
Cuyahoga  River.  At  the  last  quarterly-meeting  for  the 
3'ear,  in  June,  1817,  which  was  held  in  Kelson,  in 
brother  Taylor's  barn,  beginning  on  Friday,  on  account 
of  much  quarterly-conference  business,  which  kept  that 
body  close  for  the  whole  of  Saturday,  I  offered  myself 
again,  but  with  no  better  success  than  before.  I 
should  not  probabl}'  have  offered  myself  again,  but  I 
was  pressed  by  the  membership  to  do  so;  the  same  old 
reasons  of  poverty  in  both  myself  and  the  circuits  be- 
ing urged  by  the  presiding  elder. 

But  a  little  incident  at  the  meeting,  like  a  pebble  on 
the  iron  rails,  joggled  the  car  of  opposition  so  as  to  ar- 
rest the  attention  of  the  conductor.  The  quarterly  con- 
ference being  in  session  in  the  house,  the  preaching 
was  done  in  the  barn,  and  it  fell  to  me  to  preach  at  9 
o'clock,  A.  M.,  on  Saturday.     My  text  was  Romans  viii, 

15 


170  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

28-30,  on  predestination.  Calvinism  yet  retained  its 
predominance  in  Yankeedom,  of  which  this  Keserve 
was  the  offspring,  and,  of  course,  all  were  eyes  and  ears 
to  see  and  hear  what  the  boy  would  do  with  the  text, 
and  the  doctrines  which  the  Calvinists  drew  from  it. 
The  result  was  favorable  for  both  me  and  the  cause  of 
Methodism  in  that  region. 

In  the  afternoon,  when  my  case  was  before  the  con- 
ference, the  presiding  elder  being  opposed  to  me,  and 
seeking  every  ground  he  could  to  justify  his  opposition, 
raised  the  question  of  ability  to  preach.  As  none  of 
the  officiary  on  the  part  of  the  circuit  nearest  my  resi- 
dence were  present— and  those  at  this  meeting  being 
in  conference  did  not  hear  me — brother  Finley  called 
in  brother  Taylor,  who  was  an  old  Methodist  from  New 
England,  a  man  of  intelligence,  and  a  good  judge  of 
preaching,  doubtless  expecting  to  hear  some  criticisms 
that  would  favor  his  views  of  opposition.  On  asking 
his  opinion  of  the  discourse  that  morning,  the  answer 
was  favorable — that  it  gave  general  satisfaction,  etc. 
But  this  answer  was  not  such  as  the  presiding  elder 
wanted  just  then,  and  he  pressed  his  inquiry  as  to  the 
witness's  own  views.  "  Well,  if  that  is  what  you  want,'' 
said  he,  "  I  must  say  it  was  by  far  the  greatest  sermon 
we  have  had  at  this  meeting,  and  one  of  the  best  I 
ever  heard." 

This  put  a  sudden  stop  to  further  inquiry  on  that 
point,  and  the  Conference  was  ready  to  vote  my  recom- 
mendation to  the  Annual  Conference.  But  the  presid- 
ing elder  put  in  the  old  plea  of  the  poverty  of  the 
circuits,  and  their  inability  to  support  married  men, 
and  said  he  could  not  advocate  my  reception  at  the 
Conference  if  I  was  recommended.  At  this  the  quar- 
terly conference  dropped  the  subject,  as  of  no  use  to 
try  for  me. 

Thus  I  was  prostrated  again,  and  went  home  trying 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  171 

to  be  reconciled  to  my  fate,  and  forget,  if  possible,  the 
itinerancy,  so  far  as  to  my  connection  with  it.  But 
this  was  in  vain.  It  seemed  as  if  the  stronger  the 
opposition,  the  stronger  was  the  impression  and  con- 
viction of  duty  in  that  direction. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THEKE  was  one  thing  in  the  history  of  our  Church 
in  that  region,  at  that  period,  which  has  not  ap- 
peared in  print,  and  not  at  all  to  the  credit  of  those 
who  controlled  it.  But  as  I  was  a  sufferer  under  its 
influence,  I  must,  to  give  a  faithful  record  of  my  life, 
be  excused  for  stating  it. 

As  before  hinted,  the  Connecticut  "Western  Eeserve, 
or  New  Connecticut,  lying  in  the  north-eastern  part 
of  Ohio,  and  wherein  I  resided,  was  settled  mostly  by 
people  from  the  New  England  States,  or  the  descend- 
ants of  such  from  New  York,  all  being  called  Yankees. 
Presbyterianism  had  found  its  way  here  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, before  the  Congregational  ministers  from  New 
England  had  ventured  that  far  from  home.  But  when 
the  latter  took  "  missions  to  the  heathen  in  the  West," 
they  operated  mostly  among  their  own  countrymen,  in 
the  rapidly  rising  settlements  on  the  Peserve.  I  never 
knew  of  but  two,  out  of  the  scores  that  came  with  such 
commissions,  that  went  far  enough  to  see  an  Indian 
wigwam.  These  missions  afterward  took  the  name  of 
"  Home  Missions,"  and  served  the  incumbents  as  step- 
ping-stones to  a  settlement,  when  called  by  the  people 
to  do  so. 

The  Presbyterians  being  in  the  advance,  and  some 
Churches  being  organized  under  the  economy  of  that 
denomination,  the  Eastern  missionaries  fell  in  with  it: 


172  A  WESTERN  PIONEER. 

and,  rather  preferring  that  mode  of  Church  govern- 
ment as  being  more  efficient  than  Congregationalism, 
they  persuaded  their  people  to  adopt  it.  An  arrange- 
ment was  entered  into  between  the  General  Assembly  of 
the  Presbyterian  Church,  and  the  General  Association 
of  the  Congregational  Church  of  Connecticut,  that  any 
of  their  ministers,  missionaries,  or  others,  might  be 
installed,  when  called,  as  Presbyterians  or  Congrega- 
tionalists,  as  the  people  who  called  them  might  choose. 
Under  this  arrangement  the  Congregational  ministers 
from  the  New  England  States  generally  became  Pres- 
byterians on  reaching  Ohio. 

Accordingly  Presbyteries,  and  finally  a  Synod,  was 
formed;  and,  as  "new  divinity"  had  obtained  gener- 
ally among  them,  this  Synod  was  the  first  to  give 
trouble  to  the  General  Assembly  on  this  score.  It  was 
the  first,  I  believe,  that  was  severed  from  the  Assem- 
bly on  this  ground,  and  when  severed,  many  of  the 
Churches  fell  back  upon  the  economy  of  their  fathers, 
and  became  Congregationalists  again. 

Methodism  at  that  time,  (1817,)  and  previous,  had 
but  little  foothold  on  the  Reserve.  The  people  gener- 
ally adhered  to  the  forms,  creed,  and  mode  of  worship 
of  their  New  England  forefathers.  A  few  Methodists 
had  emigrated  from  the  East,  and  a  few  had  come  from 
Maryland,  Virginia,  and  Pennsylvania;  but  when  all 
these  were  put  together,  they  bore  but  a  small  propor- 
tion to  the  mass  of  the  people.  The  Congregationalists 
having  long  been  "the  standing  order"  in  New  En- 
gland, they  felt  their  dignity  in  their  new  homes,  and 
the  Methodists  were  treated  as  intruders,  and  with 
much  contempt.  The  first  school-houses  were  built 
before  the  Ohio  school  system  was  adopted,  and,  of 
course,  by  subscriptions  and  not  taxes.  As  the  settle- 
ments were  weak,  a  union  of  all  parties  was  invoked 
to  help  build,  with  the  promise  that  the  houses  should 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  173 

not  onl}r  be  for  schools,  but  be  free  to  all  denomina- 
tions to  worship  God  in.  As  soon,  however,  as  the 
houses  were  finished,  "  the  standing  order "  took  pos- 
session of  them  whenever  they  came  along,  to  the  ex- 
clusion of  others,  and  especially  of  the  Methodists. 
We  learned  that  the  freedom  to  worship  for  all  denom- 
inations meant  that  they  all  might  do  so,  under  the 
government  and  control  of  "  the  standing  order;"  and 
when  no  minister  of  that  order  was  present,  in  some 
places  the  Methodists  might  occupy  the  house.  In  a 
few,  and  a  very  few,  places,  where  we  had  a  society 
and  friends,  we  were  allowed  to  occupy  these  houses 
as  of  the  first  right. 

Under  these  circumstances,  our  circuits  and  districts 
being  large,  and  the  Churches  being  poor,  and  the  sup- 
port being  small,  they — the  circuits — were  supplied  by 
young  and  single  men,  from  the  lower  part  of  Ohio 
and  from  Kentucky.  The  prejudices  of  their  education 
were  so  strong  against  the  Yankees  that  they  regarded 
the  people  as  bordering  upon  the  savage  state,  and, 
when  among  them,  treated  them  accordingly.  These 
young  men,  after  receiving  their  appointments  at  Con- 
ference, would  go  home  and  visit  their  friends,  and  cal- 
culate to  reach  their  fields  of  labor,  generally,  just  before 
their  first  quarter  ^'-meeting,  and  leave  for  a  home  visit 
immediately  after  their  fourth  quarterly-meeting.  By 
this  mode  of  service  the  circuits  were  generally  with- 
out preaching  for  at  least  three  months  every  year. 
Some  of  our  young  preachers  from  the  South  and  West 
were  the  descendants  of  the  Puritans,  but  had  so  im- 
bibed the  more  Western  feeling  that  they  treated  us 
with  but  little  more  respect  than  did  the  others. 

One  of  those  3'oung  men  was  sent  to  the  Chatauqua 
circuit.  He  went  clad  in  the  coarsest  and  most  shaggy 
of  cloth,  called  then  bear-skin.  A  good  sister,  of  con- 
siderable refinement,  asked  him  why  he  went  thus  clad? 


174  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"  We  wish  our  preachers  to  look  decent,  and  thus  com- 
mand respect." 

"  Why,"  said  he,  "  as  my  appointment  was  in  this 
cold  region,  and  among  the  Yankees,  whom  I  supposed 
to  be  near  related  to  the  bears  and  wolves,  I  thought 
I  would  dress  to  suit  the  circumstances." 

"  O,  brother,  3'ou  need  n't  so  despise  the  Yankees; 
you  may  want  a  Yankee  wife  before  you  leave  us." 

"No,  indeed;  I'd  as  soon  marry  an  Indian  woman." 
But  before  his  second  quarterly-meeting  he  at- 
tempted to  get  a  Yankee  wife.  Being  rejected,  he 
requested  the  presiding  elder  to  change  him  to  another 
circuit,  which  was  done,  since  his  mind  was  so  affected 
as  to  injure  him  and  his  usefulness  where  he  was. 

Under  these  circumstances  Methodism  did,  and 
could,  grow  but  little,  until  a  change  took  place,  and 
preachers  were  raised  up  among  us,  or  those  sent  to  us 
got  married  and  made  their  homes  there.  When  this 
was  done,  they  would  stay  on  their  work  till  just  time 
enough,  by  hard  travel,  to  reach  the  seat  of  Confer- 
ence;  and,  when  that  was  over,  return  as  quick  as 
their  horses  could  carry  them.  As  soon  as  this  state 
of  things  was  inaugurated,  Methodism  began  to  rise 
with  rapid  strides.  Three  preachers,  James  M'Mahon, 
Ira  Eddy,  and  Ezra  Booth,  who  came  to  us  in  a  single 
state,  married  in  the  country.  As  preachers  in  those 
days  who  had  wives,  found  it  both  convenient  and 
necessaiy  to  live  near  their  wives'  relations,  from  whom 
they  derived  a  portion  of  their  support,  these  brethren 
were  fastened  to  the  country. 

I  was  the  first  married  man  who  attempted  to  get 
into  the  itinerancy  from  this  region,  and  the  first  one 
who  did  thus  succeed.  I  had  not  only  the  plea  of  the 
poverty  of  the  circuit  to  meet,  but  also  the  prejudice 
existing  against  the  Yankees  among  the  more  western 
preachers.     Truth  compels  me  to  say,  that  notwith- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  175 

standing  the  many  great  and  excellent  qualities  of 
brothers  Young  and  Finley,  they  were  not  altogether 
free  from  the  influence  of  this  prejudice;  and  from 
what  then  transpired,  as  well  as  from  subsequent  de- 
velopments, I  must  say  that  I  think  this  was  a  strong 
element  of  the  opposition  to  me,  of  those  otherwise 
excellent  men  of  God. 

On  this  circuit,  on  which  I  lived,  then  called  Mahon- 
ing, after  the  principal  water-course  in  it,  was  a  local 
preacher,  who  bore  the  cognomen  of  "Deacon  Crosby;" 
he  being  a  deacon  in  our  Church.  He  was  one  of  the 
best  and  most  pious  men  I  ever  knew.  The  worst 
thing  I  ever  heard  of  him  was  from  an  outsider,  who 
said  that  the  deacon  could  not  be  a  good  man,  for 
every  body  spoke  well  of  him,  and  quoted  our  Lord's 
words,  "Woe  to  you,  when  all  men  speak  well  of 
you." 

In  conversation  with  the  deacon,  one  day,  on  the 
"falling  exercises,"  so  called,  he  related  the  following 
remarkable  case.  He  was  preaching  in  the  town  of 
Wayne,  in  a  private  house.  A  large  fire  had  been 
made  of  sugar  maple,  in  a  large  back-woods  fire-place, 
and  burned  down  to  a  large  bed  of  live  coals.  There 
was  no  special  excitement  in  the  congregation ;  but 
suddenly  a  young  woman,  sitting  on  the  back  seat  of 
three,  made  by  laying  boards  on  chairs — her  bonnet 
had  been  laid  off,  as  is  quite  common  when  the  meet- 
ing is  in  a  private  house — sprang  to  her  feet,  and 
jumped  and  shouted;  two  or  three  jumps  carried  her 
over  the  two  seats  in  front  of  her,  and  between  persons 
sitting  on  them;  and  after  a  few  more  jumps  she  fell 
backward  with  her  long  hair,  now  dangling  without 
combs,  on  to  that  bed  of  coals,  bringing  her  hair  in  a 
heap  under  her  head. 

The  deacon  said  a  tremor  went  through  his  frame, 
and  he  stopped  preaching,  expecting  to  see  her  hair 


176  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

flash  into  a  blaze.  Two  or  three  men  sprang  to  the 
girl  and  lifted  her  up,  and  he  saw  them,  with  his  own 
eyes,  brush  the  live  coals  from  her  hair,  and  he,  with 
others,  afterward  examined  her  hair,  and  they  could 
not  discover  a  hair  that  was  singed.  He  supposed,  of 
course,  that  those  to  which  the  live  coals  adhered 
must  be  singed,  but  no  mark  of  fire  could  be  seen.  At 
the  time  he  told  me  this,  he  said  there  were  yet  living 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  meeting,  at  least  twenty 
persons  who  were  present  at  the  time,  and  saw  what  he 
had  related. 

After  seeing  what  I  have  heretofore  recorded  of  such 
exercises,  without  harm,  as  well  as  from  the  high  char- 
acter of  the  deacon,  I  was  prepared  to  credit  the  story. 
Indeed,  I  do  not  believe  that  any  person  who  thus  falls, 
under  the  influence  of  the  Good  Spirit,  could  be  injured 
by  fire  or  water,  or  by  coming  in  contact  wTith  any 
other  substance.  Skeptics,  semi-skeptics,  or  those  "Ea- 
tionalists"  who  reduce  the  works  of  God  to  their 
capacity  and  understanding,  may  not  believe  in  what 
they  can  not  comprehend ;  but  nothing  can  be  more 
reasonable  and  philosophical,  than  that  persons  under 
the  divine  or  supernatural  influence,  would  not,  na}', 
could  not,  be  hurt  by  it,  or  by  any  contact  with  other 
substances  while  their  own  volition  is  thus  suspended. 

After  the  Nelson  quarterly-meeting,  I  tried  again  to 
relieve  my  mind  from  this  strong  sense  of  duty  to 
travel  and  preach,  but  it  was  in  vain.  My  mind  wTas 
so  exercised,  and  my  feelings  and  spirit  were  so  de- 
pressed that  a  regular  nervous  prostration,  or  hypo- 
chondria, settled  down  upon  me,  and  I  could  neither 
work  nor  attend  to  other  business,  but  was  almost 
petrified  in  gloom  and  despair.  I  was  sensible  of  my 
situation,  but  unable  to  shake  it  off. 

When  I  attempted  to  work,  as  soon  as  my  thoughts 
turned  upon  the  subject — and  that  was  almost  con- 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  177 

stantly — I  believed,  as  firmly  as  I  did  in  my  existence, 
that  I  was  called  of  God  to  the  itinerancy;  was  willing 
to  obey  God  in  this  matter,  and  wishing  to  do  so;  but 
my  way  was  blocked  up — not  by  the  people,  for  they 
now  almost  unanimously  favored  me  in  this  matter, 
but — by  the  ministers  of  God,  wh'o  of  all  men  living  I 
loved  the  most;  not  for  the  want  of  talents,  for  these 
were  accorded  me,  nor  for  any  impeachment  of  Chris- 
tian character,  or  conduct,  but  from  an  indescribable 
and  indefinable  prejudice,  growing  out  of  a  fear  lest  I 
should  go  too  fast — they  deemed  and  construed  my 
willingness  as  proof  of  forwardness  and  self-conceit; 
and,  moreover,  I  was  not  born  in  some  other  part 
of  the  earth  besides  New  England — I  say,  that  when 
these  thoughts  came  to  my  mind,  which  was  almost 
continually,  my  limbs  lost  their  power  to  act;  work,  of 
course,  was  suspended,  and  tears  and  moans  gave  the 
only  relief  I  had,  except  what  came  from  a  conscious- 
ness of  my  love  to  and  peace  with  God. 

While  in  this  unpleasant  state  of  mind,  wishing  for 
some  means  by  which  to  throw  it  off,  I  read  in  a  news- 
paper a  cure  for  the  hypochondria,  said  to  be  infallible, 
and  it  proved  so  to  me.  It  was  this :  "  Take  half  a  pint 
of  resolution,  an  ounce  of  common  sense,  and  a  few 
grains  of  patience ;  mix  them  well  together,  and  when 
a  fit  of  this  terrible  disease  comes  on,  swallow  the 
whole,  and  go  to  work."  It  struck  me  that  resolution 
was  the  principal  ingredient  in  this  recipe,  and  if  so,  I 
would  try  it.  I  did  so  with  good  success.  At  first  it 
was  like  the  man  in  the  Gospel  with  the  withered  hand, 
apparently  without  power  to  stretch  it  forth,  but  with 
the  effort  came  the  strength  to  do  so.  Every  succeed- 
ing effort  seemed  to  have  more  power  in  it  until  the 
cure  was  effected,  and  the  disease  has  never  seriously 
affected  me  since ;  though  I  have  often  been  accused  of 
it  by  those  whose  eyes  were  affected  by  it. 


178  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

In  the  midst  of  these  trials  and  difficulties,  it  was 
suggested  to  me  to  try  for  an  opening  in  some  other 
Christian  Church,  but  my  feelings  revolted  at  the  idea. 
I  was  converted,  called  to  preach,  and  sanctified  among 
the  Methodists.  Their  doctrines,  usages,  modes  of  wor- 
ship were  in  accordance  with  my  experience,  and  my 
views  of  Scripture,  aided  by  my  experience  of  the 
divine  operation  on  the  human  mind.  I  knew  of  no 
other  Church,  then,  who  subscribed  to  those  doctrines, 
usages,  and  such  experiences ;  and  above  all,  I  knew 
of  no  other  Church  that  had,  and  countenanced  the 
life  and  power  of  godliness  as  did  the  Methodists.  The 
only  difficulty  in  my  way,  was  in  an  erroneous  opinion 
of  those  who  managed  our  Church  affairs,  which  time 
and  the  providence  of  God  might  correct.  I  did  not 
doubt  that  there  were  Christians  in  other  Churches, 
but  the  greater  helps  found  in  the  economy  of  Method- 
ism would  have  made  better  ones  of  them.  God  had 
made  a  Methodist  of  me,  against  the  strong  prejudices 
of  my  early  education,  and  I  could  feel  at  home  in  no 
other  communion,  and  there  I  resolved  to  live  and  die, 
by  the  grace  of  God. 

At  the  Annual  Conference  of  1817,  D.  D.  Davidson 
and  Ezra  Booth  were  sent  to  the  circuit.  They  came 
earlier  than  was  usual,  and  had  time  to  go  round  the 
circuit  once  or  twice  before  the  first  quarterly-meeting. 
In  so  doing  they  had  learned  the  state  of  feeling  in  the 
membership  in  reference  to  me,  and  when  brother  Da- 
vidson came  to  my  house,  which  was  then  one  of  his 
appointments,  he  said  to  me,  as  we  were  seated  at  the 
table : 

"Brother,  you  don't  look  well."  I  suppose  my 
countenance  indicated  this,  from  the  depressed  state  of 
my  mind.  "I  think,"  said  he,  ''that  traveling  would 
agree  better  with  you  than  your  trade,  and  the  confine- 
ment it  requires." 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  179 

"Traveling  agrees  with  me  very  well,  and  I  should 
like  to  be  engaged  in  it,  if  I  could." 

"Well,  will  you  take  a  circuit?" 

"  I  should  be  glad  to  do  so ;  but  my  brethren  think 
I  am  too  poor  to  sustain  myself,  and  the  circuits  are  too 
poor  to  sustain  me." 

"No,  no,"  said  he,  "that  is  not  so.  Will  you  take  a 
circuit  if  I  '11  get  one  for  you?" 

"I  will,  and  be  glad  of  the  opportunity  to  do  so." 

He  then  said,  "Our  people,  all  round  the  circuit, 
feel  aggrieved  at  the  way  you  have  been  treated  in  this 
matter,  and  say  they  will  not  submit  to  it  any  longer; 
they  demand  a  circuit  for  you;  and  if  you  will  take  one 
I  will  get  one  for  you." 

I  attended  the  quarterly-meeting  at  Youngstown, 
late  in  November.  Brother  Davidson  had  an  interview 
with  brother  Finley,  the  presiding  elder,  and  told  him 
the  state  of  feeling  in  my  favor,  and  that  I  must  be  em- 
ployed, or  great  dissatisfaction  would  exist  on  the  cir- 
cuit. The  result  was,  that  brother  Finley  gave  me  a 
few  appointments  in  Huron  county,  Ohio,  which  were 
from  one  hundred  and  ten  to  one  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  from  home,  through  an  almost  impassable  wilder- 
ness. These  appointments  had  been  taken  up  just 
before  Conference,  by  a  local  preacher  who  was  sent 
out  there  to  explore  the  country,  and  were  attached  to 
the  Cuyahoga  circuit.  But  the  preacher  sent  to  Cuya- 
hoga declined  to  go  to  them,  having,  as  he  said,  work 
enough  without  them.  The  prospects  for  a  support 
were  not  flattering,  and,  indeed,  this  had  but  little  place 
in  my  thoughts;  it  was  the  work  I  wanted,  and  I  was 
willing  to  trust  in  God,  and  the  brethren,  for  the  rest. 
But  having  to  close  up  my  business,  and  procure  a 
horse  and  equipments,  I  could  not  get  away  from  home 
till  the  first  week  in  January,  1818. 

I  was  clad  in  homespun,  the  produce  of  my  wife's 


180  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

industry.  She  had  spun  the  wool,  woven  the  cloth,  and, 
after  the  cloth  came  from  the  fullers,  made  my  gar- 
ments. My  horse  and  equipage  were  of  the  humblest 
kind,  though  the  best  that  I  had  means  to  procure.  My 
journey  was  through  a  country  of  which  I  had  no 
knowledge,  mostly  a  dense  forest.  I  reached  what  is 
now  Medina  county,  by  the  southern  tier  of  towns  on 
the  Eeserve;  but  finding  no  road  further  west,  I  turned 
north,  through  Pittsfield,  and  traveled  some  thirty 
miles  before  I  could  find  a  road  leading  to  the  lake 
shore,  west  of  Cleveland.  Where  Elyria  now  stands, 
there  being  no  bridge,  I  crossed  the  river  on  the  ice,  of 
one  or  two  nights'  freezing,  but  I  found  it  to  be  six 
inches  thick,  and,  of  course,  safe.  After  crossing  Black 
River,  on  the  Eidge  Eoad,  I  found  a  Methodist  family, 
by  the  name  of  Smith,  whose  house  was  one  of  my  ap- 
pointments. This  place  was  one  hundred  and  ten  miles 
from  home,  by  the  nearest  route,  but  one  hundred  and 
fifty  by  the  road  I  had  traveled. 

My  circuit  extended  from  Black  Eiver,  along  the 
Eidge  Eoad,  by  where  JS"orwalk  now  stands,  which  was 
laid  out  in  the  Spring  of  1818,  to  the  little  town  of  New 
Haven,  and  from  thence,  by  a  zigzag  course,  to  San- 
dusky Bay,  at  Venice  and  Portland,  now  Sandusky 
City;  thence  through  Perkins,  east  along  the  lake  shore? 
to  the  place  of  beginning.  I  soon  formed  a  four-weeks' 
circuit  of  twenty -four  appointments,  with  two  hundred 
miles  travel  to  compass  it.  I  preached  the  first  sermon 
ever  preached  in  many  places,  and  especially  Sandusky 
City,  then  containing  but  some  half  dozen  houses. 

At  my  first  visit  to  New  Haven  there  were  about 
thirty  families  in  the  village  and  the  adjoining  country. 
Among  them  all  there  was  but  one  person  who  enjoyed 
religion ;  he  was  James  M'Intire,  a  local  preacher,  and 
justice  of  the  peace.  I  had  sent  on  an  appointment  to 
be  there  on  Friday  night.     There  were  seven  prominent 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON. 


181 


men  in  the  place  who  were  public  teachers  of  infidelity, 
two  of  them  distinguished  physicians,  by  the  name  of 
Powers.  There  had  been  seven  lawsuits  before  our 
justice,  in  the  week,  so  far,  for  assault  and  battery, 
growing  out  of  the  use  of  whisky.  One  of  the  defend- 
ants was  a  woman,  who  had  whipped  a  man  with  a 
bridle,  without  just  cause  or  provocation. 

I  stopped  at  the  house  of  M'Intire's  father,  who,  with 
his  wife,  had  been  Methodists,  but  were  now  without 
much,  if  any,  religion.  As  soon  as  I  was  well  seated, 
the  old  lady  began  to  tell  me  the  remarks  that  had  been 
made  by  the  infidels  of  the  village,  in  reference  to  my 
appointment.  She  seemed  to  have  some  fears  that  I 
might  meet  with  uncourteous,  if  not  rough,  treatment 
from  them.  One  said,  uDon't  go  near  him,  and  he'll 
not  come  again  ;"  another  said,  "We  '11  go,  and  if  he  is 
a  smart  fellow,  we'll  stay  and  hear  him  out,  but  if  not, 
we'll  leave;"  another,  "If  he  is  well  clad,  pretty  sleek, 
and  has  on  a  fine  pair  of  boots,  we  '11  stay;  if  not,  we  '11 
leave,"  etc.  This  started  my  caloric,  commingled  with 
pity  and  indignation. 

I  went  to  the  log  school -house  that  night  with  an 
awful  sense  of  the  responsibility  that  was  resting  upon 
me.  Not  only  the  cause  of  Methodism,  but  that  of 
Christianity  itself,  was  somewhat  depending  upon  the 
effort  to  be  made.  I  deeply  felt  my  dependence  on  God, 
and  prayed  accordingly.  My  text  was,  "When  the  Lord 
Jesus  shall  be  revealed  from  heaven,  with  his  mighty 
angels,  in  flaming  fire  taking  vengeance  on  them  that 
know  not  God,  and  that  obey  not  the  Gospel  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  who  shall  be  punished  with  ever- 
lasting destruction  from  the  presence  of  the  Lord,  and 
from  the  glory  of  his  power."     2  Thess.  i,  7-9. 

The  house  was  crowded,  and  Martin  Kellogg,  one 
of  the  infidel  teachers,  sat  close  by  me.  He  told  me 
afterward,  that  when  I  told  them  that  they  were  worse 


182  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

than  the  people  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  because  they 
sinned  against  greater  light,  the  cold  streaks  went  up 
and  down  his  back,  like  the  ague.  I  learned  that  he 
and  two  others  were  awakened  under  that  discourse, 
and  it  proved  to  be  the  beginning  of  a  great  revival  for 
such  a  small  place,  resulting  in  the  conversion  of  about 
fifty  souls,  among  them  three  of  the  teachers  of  infidelity. 

The  case  of  Kellogg  was  rather  remarkable.  He 
attempted  to  get  rid  of  his  convictions  by  drinking 
freely  of  whisky,  and  carousing  with  his  boon  compan- 
ions. He  plunged  deeper  and  deeper  into  this,  till  the 
ensuing  Monday  night,  and  seemed  to  feel  worse  and 
worse  all  the  time.  He  was,  naturally,  a  kind  husband 
and  father;  but  in  this  spree  he  neglected  his  family, 
and  provided  no  wood  for  the  night.  After  dark,  when 
seated  by  the  fire,  a  neighbor  brought  in  an  armful, 
and  threw  it  upon  the  fire,  before  him.  This  seemed 
to  rouse  him  from  his  reverie  of  deep  thought,  and, 
looking  up,  he  inquired  what  he  did  that  for. 

"  Why,"  said  the  man,  ';I  expect  you  want  some  fire 
this  cold  night;  if  you  do  n't  your  family  does;"  and 
left  the  house. 

This  awoke  him  to  a  sense  of  what  ho  was  doing, 
and  the  shame  and  degradation  to  which  he  was  reduc- 
ing himself,  to  get  rid  of  his  convictions.  His  wife,  a 
kind-hearted  woman,  said  to  him,  kindly,  "Martin,  I 
am  surprised  at  you ;  to  see  a  man  of  your  character, 
talent,  and  standing,  throw  yourself  away  in  this  man- 
ner. What  does  it  mean?  What  is  the  cause  of  it? 
What  has  set  you  going  at  this  course?" 

At  this  he  broke  out,  ':I  'm  a  reprobate,  and  there  is 
no  mercy  for  me,  and  the  sooner  I  'm  dead  and  damned 
the  better  for  me,  for  I  shall  have  the  less  sin  to  suffer 
for."  Then  giving  her  to  understand  the  state  of  his 
mind,  he  seized  a  butcher-knife,  and  attempted  to  cut 
his  throat,  but  his  wife  took  the   knife  fro  pi  him  and 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  183 

prevented  it.  He  then  got  a  rope,  and  attempted  to 
hang  himself.  This,  also,  she  prevented.  He  then  said 
he  must  go  and  see  "Jim,"  meaning  M'Intire,  the  local 
preacher,  who  lived  about  thirty  rods  distant,  through 
the  woods.  As  he  had  attempted  to  destroy  himself, 
his  wife  naturally  feared  to  have  him  go  alone,  lest  he 
should  accomplish  that  purpose.  She  could  not  leave 
the  small  children  to  accompany  him,  and  there  being 
no  one  else  to  do  so,  she  objected  to  his  going  that  night, 
and  urged  him  to  wait  till  morning. 

"No,"  said  he,  "I  must  go  to  night,  and  have  Jim 
pray  for  me,  or  I  shall  be  in  hell  before  morning;" 
and  thus  saying  he  broke  away  from  her  and  ran 
at  the  top  of  his  speed  to  find  "Jim."  On  entering  the 
house  where  "  Jim  "  boarded  with  his  parents,  and  out 
of  breath,  and  showing  the  highest  state  of  agitation 
of  mind,  he  inquired  for  "Jim."  M'Intire's  mother  and 
a  boy  being  all  that  were  at  home  at  the  moment,  the 
bo}~  was  dispatched  in  a  great  hurry  for  him. 

The  family  had  heard  that  Kellogg  was  on  a  spree,  a 
regular  "  bender,"  that  day  ;  and  the  old  lady  very  natu- 
rally expected  a  fight  at  least;  and,  from  the  unusual 
agitation  of  Kellogg's  mind,  feared  something  worse* 
had  occurred,  and  began  to  inquire  what  was  the. 
matter. 

Kellogg's  lips  and  limbs  trembled,  being  agitated 
from  head  to  foot,  and  in  reply  to  her  inquiries,  said, 
"I  want  Jim  to  pray  for  me,"  and  could  say  no  more. 
This  was  as  linexpected  to  the  old  lady  as  a  thunder 
gust  in  midwinter.  But  before  she  could  recover  from 
her  surprise  so  as  to  make  further  inquiries,  her  son 
came  in. 

M'Intire's  way  was  very  calm  and  easy,  always  good- 
natured  and  social,  and  supposing,  from  what  he  had 
heard  of  the  "spree"  in  the  village,  that  some  more  of 
the  legitimate  fruits  of  whisky  were  on  hand,  sat  down 


184  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

by  the  side  of  Kellogg  and  inquired,  "  Well,  Martin, 
what  is  the  matter  now?"  But  Kellogg  choked  and 
trembled  so  that  he  could  not  reply,  and  the  tears 
ran  freely.  By  this  time  M'Intire  began  to  be  appre- 
hensive that  murder,  or  something  akin  to  it,  had 
occurred,  when  his  mother  said,  "Mr.  Kellogg  wants 
you  to  pray  for  him." 

This  took  M'Intire  all  aback.  "  What,"  thought  he, 
"Martin  Kellogg  want  to  be  prayed  for!  The  infidel 
teacher,  and  on  a  regular  bender  for  several  days  past, 
want  to  be  prayed  for !  He  must  have  had  a  vision  of 
heaven  or  hell,  or  both;  or  has  seen  a  visitant  from 
the  spirit  world,"  and  he  began  to  inquire  for  the  cause 
of  this  strange  and  unexpected  movement  of  his. 

"  I  can  't  tell  you  any  thing  about  it  now,"  said 
Kellogg,  "but  I  want  you  to  pray  for  me,  or  I  shall  be 
in  hell  before  morning,"  and  fell  upon  his  knees  by  the 
chair. 

M'Intire  seeing  this  earnestness  and  evidence  of  deep 
penitence,  felt  his  soul  moved  within  him,  as  only  a 
man  of  deep  piety,  who  felt  the  worth  of  souls,  could 
feel,  and  he  fell  also  upon  his  knees  and  prayed  as  best 
he  could,  not  knowing  the  particulars  of  the  case. 
The  mother's  cold  heart  was  melted ;  her  tears  started 
freely  down  her  cheeks,  and  she  almost  imagined  that 
the  world  was  coming  to  an  end,  if  Martin  Kellogg,  the 
known  and  noted  infidel,  wanted  to  be  prayed  for;  but 
not  feeling  prepared  to  go  before  the  Judge  of  quick  and 
dead,  she  joined  in  the  prayer  for  her  own  soul, 
earnestly. 

When  they  rose  from  their  knees  M'Intire  gave  Kel- 
logg some  words  of  comfort,  inspiring  him  with  some 
hope  of  mercy,  and  that  he  was  not  a  reprobate  from  all 
eternity,  when  Kellogg  became  more  composed,  and  told 
how  he  felt  under  the  preaching  the  Friday  night  before, 
and  how  he  had  tried  to  drown  his  convictions  by  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  185 

free  use  of  whisky  and  carousing;  but  that  his  convic- 
tions had  only  increased,  and  finally  in  despair,  he  had 
attempted  his  own  life,  but  was  prevented  by  his  wife, 
and  how  he  had  broken  away  from  her  to  come  and  see 
him,  leaving  her  wringing  her  hands  in  fear. 

At  this  poiut  M'Intire  sprang  to  his  feet  and  said : 
Ci  If  that  be  the  case  you  must  go  home  at  once,  and  I  '11 
go  with  you;"  and  so  they  did.  On  reaching  the  house 
they  found  her  walking  the  floor,  and  in  great  distress 
of  mind,  fearing  that  Kellogg  had  accomplished  his 
intent,  instead  of  going  to  M'Intire's,  and  that  the  next 
she  should  see  of  him  would  be  his  lifeless  body.  But 
on  seeing  him  alive,  and  in  such  good  hands,  she  sat 
down  relieved  in  mind,  but  much  exhausted,  yet  thank- 
ful. M'Intire  spent  the  night  with  Kellogg  in  prayer 
and  counsel,  pointing  him  to  the  Savior. 

The  next  day  there  was  a  great  buzzing  among  the 
infidels.  The  events  of  that  night  had  got  on  the  wings 
of  the  wind.  One  of  their  most  prominent  men  had 
renounced  their  soul-damning  creed,  and  was  praying! 
Some  half  dozen  of  them  went  to  M'Intire's  to  inquire 
if  the  reports  were  true,  and  to  ascertain  if  he  was  not 
drunk,  and  that  all  this  change  was  but  the  result  of 
the  liquor:  affirming  that  they  had  never  seen  him  on 
such  a  spree  before,  and  that  he  must  have  taken  at 
least  half  a  gallon  during  the  day. 

But  M'Intire  and  his  mother  replied  that  whatever 
he  had  done  during  the  day,  he  was  sober  when  he  came 
there.  It  would  seem  that  the  extreme  anguish  and 
agitation  of  his  mind  had  counteracted  the  effects  of  the 
liquor,  so  that  no  signs  of  it  were  upon  him  when  he 
reached  M'Intire's  house.  The  efforts  of  the  infidels  to 
turn  him  back  were  unavailing.  He  went  thirty  miles 
to  a  quarterly-meeting  the  next  week,  and  was  soundly 
converted  to  God ;  as  were,  also,  several  of  his  neigh- 
bors who  accompanied  him. 

16 


186  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

When  I  came  round  to  New  Haven,  at  my  next 
appointment,  I  found  Kellogg  happy,  with  several 
others  who  were  either  awakened  under  my  first  ser- 
mon there,  or  had  been  awakened  by  the  case  of 
Kellogg  and  others,  so  that  quite  an  excitement  was  up, 
and  a  revival  in  progress.  The  infidels,  of  course,  must 
attack  the  preacher  whose  humble  efforts  had  been  the 
means  of  this  breach  upon  and  into  their  ranks. 

To  do  this  most  effectually,  their  great  champion, 
Dr.  Royal  N".  Powers,  met  me  at  Kellogg's  to  argue  the 
points  in  dispute  between  us.  Knowing  that  it  was  of 
little  or  no  use  to  argue  with  skeptics  on  the  abstract 
question  of  revelation,  for  on  these  points  they  have 
fixed-up  answers  to  suit  their  own  views,  and  which 
answer  them  as  a  salvo  to  their  consciences,  and  these 
they  have  by  rote,  I  turned  the  tables  on  him  by  ap- 
pealing to  matters  of  fact,  which  he  could  not  dispute. 

"Doctor,"  said  I,  "  would  you  believe  brother  Kel- 
logg on  his  oath?" 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "I  would  believe  him  without  an 
oath,  for  I  never  knew  him  to  lie  in  my  life." 

I  then  turned  to  brother  Kellogg  and  asked,  "  Do  you 
know  that  you  have  met  with  a  change  in  this  matter?" 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "bless  God,  I  know  it." 

"Ah,"  said  the  Doctor,  "I  don't  doubt  but  he 
thinks  so." 

"Brother  Kellogg,"  I  inquired,  "is  it  a  think  so 
with  you,  or  a  matter  of  knowledge?" 

"  Why,  bless  God,  I  know  it,  because  I  feel  it." 

"Well,  brother  Kellogg,  which  is  the  happier  state, 
your  present,  or  your  former  one  ?" 

"Why,  the  present  one;  and  I  would  not  change 
back  again  for  a  thousand  such  worlds  as  this." 

"Well,"  said  the  Doctor,  "I  believe  you  are  all  de- 
luded, but  it  is  a  happy  delusion,  and  I  really  wish  I 
was  deluded  too.     I  believe  you  are  really  happier  than 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  187 

I  am.''  And  it  so  turned  out  that  in  six  weeks  he  was 
as  much  deluded — if  it  is  delusion — as  any  of  us.  The 
last  I  heard  of  him  he  was  still  on  his  way  to  the  good 
world.  But  of  poor  Kellogg,  1  was  pained  to  hear  that 
after  many  years  of  usefulness  in  the  Church  he  had 
backslidden,  and  took  refuge  in  semi-infidelity — Univer- 
salism — when  he  was  over  seventy-six  years  of  age. 
How  are  the  mighty  fallen  I 

In  the  conversion  of  Dr.  Powers  there  was  one  cir- 
cumstance out  of  the  ordinary  course  of  such  events, 
and  may  meet  some  other  similar  case;  after  he  had 
yielded  to  his  convictions,  and  resolved  to  seek  religion, 
he  pictured  out  in  his  mind  how  the  change  would 
occur,  and  how  he  would  feel,  and  drawing  his  picture 
from  some  others  whom  he  had  seen  and  heard,  calcu- 
lated on  a  great  shout  when  he  was  converted.  He 
expected  to  obtain  pardon  in  a  good  meeting  where 
others  were  happy,  and  expected  to  be  as  happy  as  the 
happiest.  The  blessing  not  coming  in  this  way,  and  as 
soon  as  he  expected,  he  became  despondent  and  dis- 
couraged, and  almost  sank  into  despair.  On  the  day 
of  his  conversion  he  was  at  a  good  meeting,  but  felt  so 
bad  that  he  left  and  went  into  his  barn  to  pray.  Then 
and  there,  in  a  still  small  voice,  God  spoke  peace  to  his 
soul.  He  then  thought  that  he  would  return  to  the 
meeting,  tell  what  he  had  found,  and  have  his  great 
shout  over  it  with  the  brethren.  But  no  such  over- 
powering joy  as  he  expected  came  into  his  soul;  but, 
instead  thereof,  a  calm  peace,  which  he  enjoyed  best  in 
solemn  silence.  He  could  not  doubt  the  change,  and 
after  declaring  it  to  the  brethren,  retired  to  his  barn 
for  prayer,  praise,  and  meditation.  There  he  was  filled 
to  overflowing  with  peace;  but  he  felt  best  in  joyful, 
weeping  silence  before  G-od. 

In  over  half  a  century's  experience  and  observation,  1 
have  never  known  a  person  to  be  converted  just  in  the 


188  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

way  he  had  pictured  it  out  in  his  own  mind.  Such  pict- 
ures are  usually  drawn  from  some  remarkable  case,  and 
were  the  reality  to  be  in  accordance  with  the  previous 
imagination,  there  would  be  room,  if  not  ground  for 
the  thought,  that  the  creature  had  a  hand  in  his  own 
conversion;  as  if  to  will  to  be  converted  would  do  the 
work.  But  as  the  work  is  God's,  and  of  God,  he  will 
do  it  in  such  a  way  as  to  secure  the  glory  of  it  to  him- 
self. His  agency  is  always  plainly  visible  to  the  con- 
verted mind.  The  act  of  pardoning,  changing,  or  re- 
generating the  soul,  being  of  God,  the  work,  when 
accomplished,  bears  the  Divine  impress;  so  that  though 
it  did  not  occur  agreeably  to  our  preconceived  notions, 
yet  we  have  no  just  cause  to  doubt  its  reality,  but 
rather  have  stronger  faith  that  it  is  genuine,  because 
we  see  clearly  that  it  was  God,  and  not  ourself,  that 
did  it. 

While  this  revival  was  in  progress  in  New^EIaven, 
a  great  change  took  place  in  the  state  of  the  commu- 
nity. One  fellow  said  that  so  many  had  turned  Method- 
ists that  whisky  had  fallen  from  fifty  to  twenty-five 
cents  a  gallon.  But  in  his  willful  stubborness  not  to 
yield  to  the  sacred  influences,  whisky  being  so  cheap, 
he  drank  the  harder.  He  owned  and  run  a  small  un- 
finished grist-mill,  and  that  on  Sunday,  though  it 
might  stand  idle  all  the  rest  of  the  week.  On  one 
Sunday,  having  his  jug  of  the  poison  to  cheer  his  spirits 
from  thoughts  of  God  and  salvation,  whether  drunk,  half 
drunk,  or  partially  sober,  I  know  not,  not  being  there, 
he  fell  somehow,  backward  upon  a-timber,  which  broke 
the  spine,  of  which  he  soon  died  in  deep  despair. 

This  revival  continued  for  several  weeks,  during 
which  about  fifty  souls  were  converted  and  reclaimed. 
Among  the  converts  was  a  young  lady,  a  sister  of  M'ln- 
tire,  the  local  preacher,  which  occurred  on  this  wise : 
I  had  often  conversed  with  her  on  the  subject  of  relig- 


REV.   ALFRED   BRUNSON.  189 

ion,  but  invaribly  met  with  a  repulse  by  her  wit;  she 
turning  the  scales  upon  me  by  some  laughable  remark. 
She  was  the  first  and  the  last  person  that  could  get 
the  better  of  me  by  such  means,  and  I  gave  her  up  in 
despair  of  doing  her  any  good. 

But  one  day,  after  a  long  and  fruitless  trial  with 
her,  I  was  in  conversation  with  her  father  upon  the 
good  work  in  progress,  when  he  spoke  of  his  children, 
for  whose  salvation  he  felt  great  concern.  I  remarked 
that  he  had  one  child  that  I  feared  would  be  lost,  any- 
how, for  a  funny  devil  was  the  worst  devil  I  ever  had 
to  grapple  with.  She  was  near  enough  to  hear  the  re- 
mark, and  was  sure  it  referred  to  her,  and  from  it  con- 
viction reached  her  heart.  She  bowed  before  God,  and 
that  night  before  the  altar,  at  the  mourners'  bench,  she 
was  converted,  and  repeatedly  afterward  thanked  me 
for  that  remark. 

At  Perkins  was  the  largest  and  best  society  on  the 
circuit,  and  composed,  mostly,  of  old  Methodists,  who 
emigrated  from  Connecticut.  John  Beatie,  a  local  elder, 
and  William  Gurley,  a  local  deacon,  resided  there. 
Beatie's  wife  was  Gurley's  sister.  Beatie,  in  New  Lon- 
don, Conn.,  had  been  a  successful  merchant,  and  had 
purchased  largely  of  the  "  Fire-Lands,"  in  the  Connect- 
icut Western  Eeserve,  and  concluding  to  move  to  and 
sell  his  lands,  had  induced  Gurley  and  most  of  the  so- 
ciety to  accompany  him,  and  thus  formed  the  colony. 
But  Beatie  found  that  selling  lands  was  not  like  sell- 
ing goods.  The  returns  were  not  as  frequent,  and  he 
became  embarrassed  and  was  deju-essed  in  spirit,  and 
seldom  preached,  though  he  had  superior  talents  for  the 
pulpit,  and  the  society  being  more  or  less  affected  by 
his  state  of  mind,  was  in  a  low  state  of  religion. 

In  coming  into  the  settlement,  on  one  round  I  un- 
dertook to  obey  the  letter  of  the  rule  by  visiting  from 
house  to  house,  taking  every  one  in  course.     The  set- 


190  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

tlement  was  six  miles  long,  all  on  one  street,  on  a  ridge, 
each  one  having  a  farm  running  back  into  the  prairie 
from  the  road. 

I  began  at  the  first  house,  told'  the  people  who  and 
what  I  was,  and  that  I  had  called  to  talk  with  them 
on  the  subject  of  religion,  and  if  they  had  no  objection, 
to  pray  with  them.  In  nearly  all  they  listened  re- 
spectfully, and  made  no  objections. 

At  length  I  came  to  a  Universalist,  who,  at  once, 
commenced  an  argument  on  doctrinal  points.  I  told 
him  I  had  not  called  to  argue  or  dispute,  but  simply  to 
talk  about  religion,  and  if  he  had  no  objections,  to  pray 
with  and  for  his  family.  At  this  he  stopped  and  list- 
ened. I  gave  a  short  exhortation ;  explaining  the  nat- 
ure of  religion,  and  urging  its  necessity  as  a  qualifica- 
tion for  heaven.  Upon  his  consenting,  I  prayed  with 
and  for  him  and  his  family. 

In  this  way  I  visited  every  house,  till  I  reached  the 
one  at  which  I  was  to  stop  for  the  night.  The  next 
morning,  it  being  Sunday,  I  took  every  house  in  course, 
in  the  same  way,  till  I  reached  the  log  school-house  in 
which  we  held  our  meetings.  After  meeting  I  pursued 
the  same  course  to  the  end  of  the  settlement. 

The  result  was,  a  crowded  house  at  meeting,  and  a 
gracious  revival  of  religion.  Some  twenty  or  thirty 
were  converted,  among  whom  were  some  of  the  Uni- 
versalist's  family  and  James  Gurley,  who  afterward 
became  a  distinguished  itinerant  in  Ohio,  and  else- 
where, and  now  lives  in  Northern  Minnesota. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  191 


CHAPTER  X. 

AS  I  have  already  hinted,  I  here  became  acquainted 
with  the  Rev.  William  Gurley,  whose  biography, 
by  his  son,  Rev.  Leonard  B.  Gurley,  is  among  our 
Church  literature.  He  was  born  in  Ireland,  where  he 
was  converted  under  the  ministry  of  Mr.  Wesley. 
Prom  him  I  learned,  for  the  first  time,  the  true  charac- 
ter, nature,  and  design  of  the  Irish  Rebellion,  1798.  I 
had  seen  many  an  Irish  refugee  at  my  father's  public- 
house,  when  a  boy,  and  had  learned  from  them,  and 
from  my  father,  who  greatly  sympathized  with  them, 
because  he  supposed  them  to  be  aiming  at  republican- 
ism, that  the  object  of  the  rebellion  was  to  establish  a 
Republic  on  the  u  Green  Isle,"  similar  to  that  of  the 
United  States;  and,  of  course,  every  lover  of  liberty 
would  wish  they  had  succeeded  in  their  attempt. 

But  Mr.  Gurley  informed  me  that  it  was  a  Roman 
Catholic  movement.  Many  Protestants  at  first  joined 
them,  being  promised,  and  expecting,  republican  free- 
dom. But  as  soon  as  the  Papists  thought  the  day  was 
theirs,  they  turned  upon  their  Protestant  friends,  and 
savagely  butchered  them,  burning  some  two  hundred 
in  one  building.  Mr.  Gurley's  brother  was  piked  on 
Wexford  Bridge,  with  many  others,  and  thrown  into 
the  river.  Mr.  Gurley  himself  was  made  a  prisoner, 
condemned  to  death  upon  the  same  bridge,  and  by  the 
same  kind  of  weapons,  when  the  King's  troops  came 
up  and  relieved  him  with  others.  Of  course,  he  and 
they  could  not  admire  the  idea  of  Catholic  rule. 

Mr.  Gurley's  preaching  talents  were  moderate,  but 
respectable.  His  deep  Irish  accentuation,  together  with 
his  Irish  or  mother-wit,  and  constitutional  eccentricity, 


192  A  WESTERN     PIONEER. 

attracted  the  lovers  of  such  style  of  speaking.  His 
deep  piety  and  earnestness  of  manner  often  made  his 
preaching  of  a  powerful  cast,  and  useful  to  his  hearers. 

The  last  time  I  saw  him  was  at  the  last  quarterly- 
meeting,  held  near  the  center  of  what  was  then  Huron 
county,  Ohio,  when,  in  relating  his  exj^erience  in  love- 
feast,  after  giving  some  very  interesting  details,  he 
broke  out  in  a  characteristic  exhortation,  saying,  "  My 
brethren,  we  are  all  wrong  in  the  way  we  do  things. 
We  suffer  the  devil  to  ride  us  about  at  his  pleasure, 
loading  us  with  heavy  burdens  of  trials  and  tempta- 
tions. But  this  is  not  the  right  way.  Instead  of  let- 
ting him  ride  us  at  his  will,  we  should  mount  upon  his 
back  and  ride  him  till  we  spur -gall  him." 

There  was,  also,  in  this  class  at  Perkins,  a  leader, 
Julius  Houre,  who  was  a  model  for  such  officers.  He 
could  work  the  longest  and  the  hardest,  and  appar- 
ently with  the  most  faith  and  power  of  any  man  I  ever 
saw,  at  the  altar  or  mourners'  bench,  and  with  the  most 
effect.  It  seemed,  when  he  besought  the  Throne  of 
Grace  in  behalf  of  penitents,  as  if  he  had  hold  of  the 
horns  of  the  altar,  and,  like  wrestling  Jacob,  would  not 
let  go  till  the  blessing  was  bestowed.  In  his  other  du- 
ties as  leader,  he  was  equally  faithful,  and,  of  course, 
he  was  a  blessing  to  his  charge. 

One  of  my  appointments  on  this  circuit  was  at 
"  Cold  Spring,"  a  phenomenon  of  nature.  It  breaks  out 
at  the  northern  base  of  a  limestone  ridge,  some  two 
hundred  feet  high.  As  well  as  I  can  now  recollect, 
the  spring  itself  covers  four  or  five  acres,  and  was 
then  full  of  black  alders;  the  water  being  covered  with 
green  moss,  so  strong  as  to  bear  up  birds  and  even 
cats  in  the  pursuit  of  them. 

The  outlet  of  this  spring  was  about  forty  feet  wide 
and  six  feet  deep,  and  the  smooth  current  was  rapid 
enough  to  turn  a  mill  without  any  apparent  head  or 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  193 

fall.  The  water  was  so  clear  that  a  pin  could  be  seen 
on  the  bottom.  Its  motion  was  tremulous,  like  melted 
lead,  and  so  impregnated  with  lime  that  stones  foimied 
on  the  limbs  of  the  willows  along  its  banks,  and  sank 
them  to  the  bottom.  The  tea-kettles  would  soon  be 
incrusted,  and  their  spouts  filled  with  lime.  And  the 
inhabitants  were  so  subject  to  fevers  and  agues,  that 
but  few  continued  to  live  long  by  this  great  fountain. 

The  place  was  one  of  the  seats  of  bloody  massacre 
in  the  war  of  1812,  by  the  Indians,  when  a  number  of 
men,  women,  and  children  were  killed  or  taken  prison- 
ers to  Maiden,  where  the  British  authorities  paid  the 
savages  for  both  scalps  and  prisoners.  Two  boys  who 
happened  to  be  in  the  corn-field  at  the  time  of  the 
attack,  were  all  that  escaped.  One  of  them,  Era  Put- 
nam, then  seventeen  years  of  age,  was  living,  in  1865, 
at  Prairie  du  Chi  en. 

This  remarkable  stream  runs  through  an  apparently 
level  prairie  some  two  miles,  when  it  begins  to  divide 
and  subdivide,  till  in  two  miles  more  it  is  lost  in  the 
marsh  bordering  upon  Sandusky  Bay,  a  short  distance 
west  of  Venice. 

On  a  prairie,  some  four  miles  North-West  from  the 
spring,  I  saw  a  mound  about  thirty  feet  in  diameter, 
and  four  feet  high,  perfectly  round.  It  was  flat  on  the 
top,  with  a  spring  in  the  center.  It  was  composed  of 
cinder-looking  stones  resembling  those  formed  on  the 
limbs  of  the  willows  on  the  stream,  and  were  evidently 
formed  by  deposits  from  the  water,  which  so  clearly 
resembled  the  water  in  the  great  spring,  as  to  leave  no 
doubt  that  it  came  from  there  by  a  subterranean  pas- 
sage. The  stones  here  formed  increased,  apparently,  in 
size,  and  spread  the  mound  out  each  way,  the  outer 
edge  of  which  was  covered  with  grass,  at  an  angle  of 
forty -five  degrees;  the  grass  also  extended  over  the 
level  top  to  within  two  or  three  feet  of  the  center ;  but 

17 


194  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

in  walking  over  it  the  looseness  of  the  stones  was  dis- 
coverable by  the  feet. 

The  cause  of  this  singular  spring  rising  as  it  does,  at 
the  foot  of  a  high  ridge,  was  supposed  to  be  the  sink- 
ing of  some  small  streams  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
ridge.  The  water  was  greatly  changed  in  appearance 
and  character,  by  its  subterranean  course.  From  its 
unhealthiness,  it  was  presumed  to  have  passed  over  or 
through  some  poisonous  mineral,  and  chemical  analysis 
was  said  to  show  the  presence  of  copper  as  well  as 
lime. 

Some  four  miles  northerly  from  this  spring  was  a 
ridge  of  timber  land,  running  down  to  the  bay.  It  was 
little  else  than  stone,  which  the  inhabitants  called  lime. 
At  my  first  visit  to  the  place  I  was  invited  to  examine 
some  Indian  mounds  made  of  these  stones,  over  some 
of  their  dead.  The  bones  were  uncovered  by  using  the 
stones,  and  were  like  others  of  the  kind;  but  the  stones 
attracted  my  attention  from  their  resemblance  to  plas- 
ter of  Paris,  which  I  had  seen  in  my  boyhood,  brought 
into  the  New  York  market  from  Passamaquoddy  Bay. 
My  guide  insisted  that  it  must  be  lime,  for  they  had 
burned  it  into  lime,  with  which  they  had  plastered 
and  whitewashed  their  houses.  To  test  the  matter  I 
applied  the  knife,  and  as  it  cut  like  plaster,  I  became 
satisfied  of  its  nature.  I  reported  this  discovery  round 
the  circuit  and  country  where  I  traveled;  and  m  less 
than  two  years  these  stones  were  quarried  and  shipped 
to  Cleveland,  and  used  in  the  manufacture  of  burr 
millstones. 

As  this  was  the  first  prairie  country  that  I  had  seen, 
I  sought  the  cause  of  its  being  nude  of  timber.  Some 
thought  it  was  natural,  others  that  it  had  been  cleared 
by  the  inhabitants  in  some  former  and  distant  age. 
But  in  all  cleared  land  1  had  ever  seen,  if  left  unculti- 
vated any  length  of  time,  the  timber  would  spring  up 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  195 

in  a  thick  growth,  so  that  this  idea  was  not  probable. 
As  for  natures  leaving  it  so,  it  was  contrary  to  nature, 
for  invariably  when  the  fire  is  kept  out,  the  timber 
spreads.  Since  then,  in  my  observations  in  more  ex- 
tensive prairie  regions,  I  have  seen  where  the  fire  is 
kept  out,  the  timber  encroaches  upon  the  prairie  very 
rapidly. 

My  conclusions  then  were,  and  fifty  years  of  more 
extensive  observations  on  the  subject  have  confirmed 
them,  that  fire  was  the  cause,  and  the  only  cause  of 
such  extensive  tracts  of  land  being  nude  of  timber. 
The  Indians,  for  ages,  have  been  in  the  habit  of  firing 
the  woods  and  open  country,  for  hunting  purposes. 
This  being  done  in  the  dryest  season,  the  high  winds 
drove  the  fires  with  great  force.  I  noticed  that  trees, 
in  timber  adjoining  the  prairies,  and  sometimes  some 
distance  into  the  standing  green  timber,  were  wounded 
in  the  bark  by  the  fire.  The  wind  would  come  with 
a  whirl  round  a  tree,  and  the  grass  and  dead  leaves 
being  in  a  flame,  the  bark  of  the  tree  would  be  scalded 
through,  and  die.  The  next  year's  fire  would  find  this 
bark  dry,  and  consume  it.  In  the  mean  time  the  tim- 
ber thus  deprived  of  its  bark  would  decay,  and  being 
dry,  succeeding  fires  would  work  deeper  into  the  body 
of  the  tree,  and  so  on,  year  after  year,  till  the  inside  of 
it  was  so  consumed  that  but  a  thin  shell  remained, 
when  a  hard  wind  would  fell  it  to  the  ground,  break- 
ing it  into  splinters.  The  next  year's  fire  would  find 
these  splinters  and  the  limbs  and  bark  of  the  tree  dry, 
and  consume  them.  And  between  the  natural  decay  or 
rot,  and  the  fires,  the  trunk  of  the  tree  would,  in  a  few 
years,  entirely  disappear. 

The  roots,  of  course,  would  sprout,  but  being  tender, 
the  next  year's  fire  would  kill  them,  and  the  succeeding 
fires  would  consume  them,  and  finally  the  roots  would 
die,  and  the  tree  become  extinct.     In  the  mean  time 


196  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  underbrush  and  young  trees,  which,  if  left  to  grow, 
would  supply  the  place  of  the  old  ones  as  they  dis- 
appeared, would  also  be.  killed  by  the  fires.  As  the 
timber  disappeared  the  grass  extended  and  furnished 
more  fuel  for  future  fires,  till  in  the  process  of  time 
no  timber  was  left,  and  for  miles  in  extent,  nothing  but 
wild  grass  and  weeds  were  to  be  seen. 

In  these  Huron  county  prairies,  and  indeed  in  all 
the  prairies  I  ever  saw  in  Ohio,  they  were  low  and  wet 
in  the  wet  part  of  the  year,  but  became  very  dry  in 
the  dry  season,  so  that  as  soon  as  the  frost  killed  the 
herbage  in  the  Fall,  and  before  the  grass  started  in  the 
Spring,  the  fires  would  run  rampant  over  their  plains. 
In  the  State  of  Wisconsin  the  prairie  is  mostly  found 
on  higher  and  dryer  land. 

On  such  prairies  the  grass  is  seldom  over  two  feet 
high,  and  often er  less,  while  on  the  low  lands  it  grows 
much  higher  and  thicker.  I  have  ridden  on  horseback 
through  grass  that  waved  even  with  my  shoulders,  on 
low,  wet  ground,  but  never  saw  such  on  the  higher 
ground.  I  have  seen  the  higher  class  of  grass  on  fire, 
when  the  blaze  would  rise  thirty  feet;  and  I  have  seen 
large  spires  of  it,  all  in  a  blaze,  taken  up  and  carried 
by  the  whirling  wind  several  rods  in  advance  of  the 
main  fire,  where  it  would  kindle  anew,  and  this  in  turn 
would  throw  out  another  kindler  in  advance,  and  so  on, 
nearly  as  fast  as  the  wind  moved. 

It  was  said  that  no  man  could  run  fast  enough 
through  such  high  grass  to  escape  such  fires,  and  but 
few  horses  could  do  so,  when  the  grass  was  thick  and 
high,  and  the  wind  strong.  In  such  a  case,  if  a  man 
saw  the  fire  coming  toward  him,  his  only  safety  was  in 
kindling  a  back  fire;  and  as  soon  as  a  small  spot  was 
burned,  and  before  it  began  to  rage,  to  step  into  the 
newly  burned  circle.  In  such  case  the  fire  works  from 
him,  and  forms  an  open  space,  in  which  he  can  breathe, 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  197 

before  the  burning  clement  accumulates  sufficient  heat 
to  draw  in  the  surrounding  atmosphere  and  increase 
its  force  and  violence. 

I  was  told  of  an  Indian  hunter  who  got  thus  over- 
taken, and,  instead  of  kindling  a  back  fire,  attempted 
to  outrun  the  flame,  but,  being  overtaken,  he  threw 
himself  down  in  the  grass  to  let  the  fire  pass  over  him, 
but  it  singed  off  his  hair,  got  into  his  powder-horn, 
which  blew  up,  and  he  escaped  barely  with  his  life,  but 
much  injured. 

Why  there  should  be  such  a  difference  between  the 
prairies  in  Ohio  and  the  States  further  west,  and  why 
any  groves  of  timber  are  left  in  the  great  Western 
prairies,  are  questions  I  am  not  able  to  answer.  I 
know  the  fact  of  the  difference,  and  am  satisfied  that 
fire  destroyed  the  timber  where  there  is  none,  but  fur- 
ther I  do  not  know.  I  have  seen  prairie  and  timber 
adjoining  on  apparently  the  same  kind  of  soil,  but  why 
the  fire  that  destroyed  the  timber  in  one  place  did  not 
do  so  in  the  other  is  for  Him  that  rules  the  elements 
to  decide. 

I  traveled  this  (Huron)  circuit  six  months,  and  from 
five  appointments  that  were  furnished  me  to  begin  with 
I  enlarged  it  to  one  of  four  weeks,  with  twenty-four 
appointments,  and  returned  145  members,  being  an  in- 
crease of  seventy -five  over  what  I  found.  I  held  a 
quartern-meeting  in  January,  1818,  at  Perkins,  soon 
after  I  reached  the  circuit ;  but,  as  brother  Finley  could 
not  reach  the  place,  I  held  it  alone,  having  the  Lord's- 
Supper  administered  by  brothers  Beatie  and  Gurley,  I 
not  being  then  ordained.  In  March  brother  Finley 
held  one  for  us  in  New  Haven,  in  the  height  of  our 
revival  there;  and  in  July  Eev.  D.  D.  Davidson  came 
as  a  substitute  for  the  presiding  elder,  and  held  the  third 
in  a  barn  on  a  prairie,  near  the  center  of  the  county. 

At  this  last  meeting  I  took  occasion  to  "cry  aloud 


198  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  spare  not,"  etc. ;  and  among  the  sins  of  the  people 
I  said  that  I  had  been  informed  of  twenty  or  more 
families  in  the  county  who  were  living  in  a  state  of 
adultery,  either  the  man  or  the  woman,  or  both,  having 
left  wife  or  husband  in  the  Eastern  States,  and  come 
to  this  country.  Some  of  them  had  gone  through  the 
forms  of  a  marriage,  and  others  had  not.  I  also  in- 
formed the  people  that  I  had  heard  of  as  many  or 
more  such  families  in  each  of  the  four  counties  then 
bordering  upon  Lake  Erie,  making  in  all  about  one 
hundred.  Some  of  them  had  cause  for  a  divorce  from 
wife  or  husband,  but  to  avoid  the  expense  and  trouble 
came  to  the  West,  where  they  vainly  thought  they 
would  be  unknown.  Others  had  no  such  cause,  but, 
preferring  another  to  their  lawful  wife  or  husband, 
joined  hands  and  put  for  the  West,  where  they  sup- 
posed the  truth  would  not  follow  them.  But  they  all 
found  it  was  in  vain  to  come  West,  to  be  unknown,  for 
in  many  instances  they  were  preceded  or  soon  followed 
by  old  neighbors. 

This  attack,  as  they  called  it,  upon  their  domestic 
affairs  aroused  the  guilty  as  soon  as  it  would  a  slave- 
holder to  touch  upon  his  affairs,  and  they  resorted  to 
similar  means  in  self-justification,  or  rather  revenge, 
for  being  exposed  ;  for  I  was  afterward  told  that  some 
of  the  guilty  followed  me  with  rifles,  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles,  to  shoot  me.  In  the  mean  time  it  stirred  up  the 
moral  sensibilities  of  the  virtuous,  and  at  the  next  term 
of  the  court  the  judge  charged  the  grand  jury  to  inquire 
into  the  matter,  and  indict  all  they  found  guilty.  But 
the  form  of  the  oath  administered  to  grand  juries  in 
those  days — and  perhaps  so  yet  in  some  places — was, 
"saving  yourselves  and  your  fellow-jurors,  you  will 
diligently  inquire  and  true  presentment  make,"  etc. 
This  blocked  the  wheels  for  this  time,  for  it  was  ascer- 
tained  that   a   majority  of  that  jury  were  among  the 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  199 

guilty.  As  they  were  to  "save  themselves  and  their 
fellow-jurors,"  no  indictments  could  be  found.  But  the 
state  of  the  jury  leaked  out,  and  the  excitement  in- 
creased, and  at  the  next  term  of  the  court  a  jury  was 
selected  who  were  clear  of  this  guilt,  and  who  indicted 
several;  but  the  majority  of  the  guilt}'  found  it  for 
their  interest  to  seek  residences  in  some  other  locations. 

From  my  last  quarterly-meeting  I  accompanied 
brother  Davidson  to  a  camp-meeting  at  "the  port- 
age," so  called  from  the  ancient  custom  of  "voyagers" 
carrying  canoes  and  lading  from  the  Cuyahoga  to 
the  Tuscarawas  River.  I  believe  it  was  near  where 
Akron  now  stands.  On  the  way  I  was  so  unfortunate 
as  to  displease  brother  Davidson  by  obeying  the  spirit 
and  letter  of  the  Discipline  of  the  Church — that  is,  in 
being  punctual,  and  endeavoring  to  do  every  thing  at 
the  time.  I  had  read  Wesley's  Works,  and  imbibed  the 
spirit  of  them ;  I  had  read  the  Discipline  repeatedly, 
and  endeavored  to  obey  it.  but  in  doing  so  I  committed 
an  offense  against  my  friend,  to  whom  I  was  so  much 
indebted,  while  I  thought  it  would  have  commended 
me  to  every  Methodist  preacher. 

The  thing  was  done  in  this  wise:  I  thought  we 
should  make  the  families  where  we  lodged  as  little 
trouble  as  possible,  and  when  the}'  announced  that  they 
were  ready  for  family  prayers,  or  that  meals  were 
ready,  I  felt  it  to  be  a  duty  to  be  on  hand  at  once,  and 
not  keep  them  waiting.  But  brother  Davidson  did  not 
view  it  in  the  same  light,  or  at  least  he  did  not  practice 
it.  He  was  often  out  of  the  way,  must  finish  reading 
a  paragraph  or  sometimes  take  a  walk,  while  the  whole 
family  were  in  waiting.  In  one  such  case  I  attended 
family  prayers  in  his  absence,  and  in  one  or  two  cases  I 
asked  a  blessing  at  the  table  before  he  got  ready  to 
come  to  it.  As  he  was  my  senior  he  thought  this  was 
forwardness  in  me,  and  savored  of  pride  or  self-conceit. 


200  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

He  said  nothing  to  me  about  it,  as  be  should  have  done, 
if  he  thought  me  to  be  in  error,  but  made  due  report 
thereof  to  the  presiding  elder,  with  what  coloring  or 
comments  I  never  knew,  only  as  I  inferred  from  what 
followed. 

When  we  arrived  at  the  camp-ground  brother  Fin- 
ley  received  me,  with  him,  very  cordially;  but  in  a 
short  time  he  gave  me  the  cold  shoulder.  I  saw  that 
something  was  in  the  wind,  but  wha-t  I  could  not 
imagine.  From  the  fact  that  it  occurred  after  we 
arrived,  I  inferred  that  it  must  be  something  that 
brother  D.  had  said,  so  I  inquired  of  him  what  was  the 
matter;  whether  I  had  done  any  thing  wrong,  or  dis- 
pleased him  in  any  way.  All  the  answer  I  could  get 
was,  "Brother,  I'm  your  friend."  "Well,  if  jtoli  are 
my  friend,  tell  me  what  is  the  cause  of  this  coldness 
toward  me?"  But  the  only  reply  was,  "I'm  your 
friend."  This  satisfied  me  that  something  from  him. 
had  caused  the  trouble.  As  I  could  not  find  out  from 
him  what  it  was,  I  went  to  brother  Finle}'.  He  was  as 
distant  and  uncommunicative  as  the  other.  All  this 
thickened  the  cloud  over  me ;  my  mind  became  so  de- 
pressed, and  my  heart  so  pained,  that  I  could  get  no 
rest. 

In  this  state  of  the  case  I  insisted  so  strongly  to 
know  the  cause  of  this  cold  treatment,  that  I  sprung 
the  feelings  of  Finley,  and  what  he  would  not  tell  for 
love,  or  as  an  official  duty,  he  let  out  in  rather  a  petu- 
lant manner,  and  gave  me  a  severe  lecture  for  being  so 
forward  in  the  presence  of  older  preachers.  He  said  it 
indicated  pride  and  self-conceit.  I  referred  to  the  rule 
of  Discipline,  and  the  Works  of  Wesley.  But  that  was 
nothing  to  me  when  older  preachers  were  present.  This 
I  thought  strange  doctrine  to  teach  a  young  preacher; 
but  I  resolved  to  be  on  my  guard  in  future,  and  if  the 
older  men  must  govern — as  in  general  they  ought  to  do — 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  201 

I  would  leave  the  responsibility  of  any  breach  of  rule, 
or  common  decency,  with  them,  and  not  incur  censure 
upon  myself  for  such  a  cause.  This  was  the  beginning, 
and  but  a  specimen  of  many  incidents  in  my  after  life. 

I  left  the  camp  ground  with  a  heavy  heart,  and 
wended  my  way  to  Deerfield,  on  the  circuit  on  which  I 
lived,  to  another  camp-meeting,  and  where  my  name 
stood  as  a  local  preacher.  The  quarterly  conference  on 
Huron  circuit,  where  I  had  been  traveling,  gave  me 
a  recommendation  to  the  Annual  Conference,  to  be 
received  on  trial  in  the  itinerancy.  The  quarterly  con- 
ference of  Mahoning  circuit,  on  which  I  lived,  at  this 
Deerfield  camp-meeting  also  gave  me  a  recommenda- 
tion for  the  same  object.  The  presiding  elder  assured 
me  that  it  was  not  necessary  for  me  to  attend  the  An- 
nual Conference;  that,  as  I  had  seen  my  family  but 
once  in  six  months.  I  might  go  home.  He  would  pre- 
sent my  case,  and  the  preachers  Avould  bring  me  word 
as  to  my  appointment,  of  which  no  intimation  of  a 
doubt  was  expressed. 

I  waited  some  four  weeks  and  heard  nothing  from 
the  Conference,  and  then  went  to  a  quarterly-meeting  to 
meet  brother  Finley.  He  informed  me  that  on  account 
of  the  size  of  my  family — three  children — the  Confer- 
ence thought  it  not  best  to  receive  me,  and  as  I  had 
been  rejected  by  the  Conference  he  could  not  employ 
me  under  the  rule,  there  being  no  leave  given  to  that 
effect.  But  I  afterward  learned  that  when  my  case  was 
presented  it  was  stated  that  "he  has  considerable 
ability,  is  popular  with  the  people  where  he  is  best 
known,  but  he  is  proud,  self-conceited,  and  assumes 
more  confidence  in  the  pulpit  than  the  bishoj)  does,  and 
I  fear  he  will  be  hard  to  govern  and  control."  With  such 
a  representation,  and  no  one  to  contradict  it — as  several 
might  have  done — it  was  no  wonder  that  the  Confer- 
ence rejected  me.     It  was,  and  is  a  wonder  that  brother 


202  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Finley  should  verge  so  hard  upon  duplicity,  and  not 
frankly  tell  me  what  he  said  to  others.  It  was  also  a 
wonder  to  me  that  any  one  acquainted  with  human 
nature,  should  form  such  an  opinion  of  me  without  any 
act  of  mine  to  authorize  it.  If  I  assumed  confidence 
in  the  pulpit,  or  appeared  to  do  so,  it  was  only  in  the 
presence  of  older  preachers,  to  overcome  the  fear  that 
young  men  are  apt  to  feel  when  preaching  before  their 
elders;  from  which  I  suffered  as  much,  I  presume,  as 
an}'  one  ever  did. 

I  returned  home  and  tried  to  content  myself  that  I 
had  done  all  I  could  to  obey  God,  and  that  as  he  in  his 
providence  had  closed  up  my  way,  or  at  least  had  not 
opened  it,  I  was  relieved  from  the  responsibility,  and 
might  give  it  up;  but  still  I  could  not  be  satisfied. 

In  this  distress  of  mind,  bordering  upon  despair,  my 
presiding  elder  persuaded  me  to  sell  a  large  stock  of 
spiritual  song  books  that  he  had  published,  assuring  me 
that  I  could  realize  fifty  dollars  a  month,  and  could,  in 
the  mean  time,  become  acquainted  witli  the  preachers 
by  traveling  and  preaching  among  them,  and  thus 
Providence  would  open  the  way  for  my  admittance 
into  the  itinerancy.  The  field  to  be  occupied  was  down 
the  Ohio  River  into  the  lower  part  of  Ohio,  and  into 
Indiana  and  Kentucky,  which  was  then  included  in  the 
Ohio  Conference.  This,  under  the  continued  din  of 
'waiting  the  opening  of  Providence,"  had  a  plausible 
appearance,  and  from  the  want  of  light  in  the  future,  I 
agreed  to  do  so. 

Just  before  leaving  home  upon  this  unfortunate 
enterprise,  I  had  a  remarkable  dream,  in  which  I  wan- 
dered in  the  dark,  and  waded  in  deep  and  dark  waters, 
out  of  which  I  could  not  escape,  and  awoke  while  yet 
in  the  dark.  I  had  paid  but  little  attention  to  dreams, 
though  in  some  few  instances  I  had  been  clearly  w-arned 
of  danger  by  them,  and  this  seemed  clearly  to  indicate 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  203 

danger  and  trouble  ahead.  But  I  had  agreed  to  go, 
and  thought  I  must  keep  my  word.  As  I  could  see  no 
risk  on  the  plan  proposed,  I  went  on  as  agreed. 

I  went  to  Steuben vi lie,  Ohio,  where  the  books  were, 
in  the  Fall  of  1818,  just  before  the  closing  of  the  river 
by  the  ice.  When  I  got  there  the  man  with  whom  my 
presiding  elder  Avas  concerned  in  the  publication  of  the 
books,  would  not  consent  to  my  selling  the  books  on 
commission,  as  I  had  agreed  to  do,  and  which  was  the 
only  thing  I  had  agreed  to  do.  This  refusal  on  his 
part  would  have  legally  and  morally  released  me  from 
the  agreement;  but  my  presiding  elder  urged  me  to 
purchase  them  at  a  discount,  and  then  required  a  mort- 
gage on  my  little  farm  to  secure  the  payment. 

This  took  me  all  aback,  and  I  thought  of  returning 
home.  But  my  presiding  elder  urged,  and  assured  me 
of  the  certainty  of  the  sale,  as  the  books  were  in  de- 
mand in  that  region;  and  the  "opening  of  providence" 
was  urged,  so  that  in  my  distress  I  unfortunately  in- 
volved m}Tself  in  a  debt  of  seven  hundred  dollars,  giving 
the  required  mortgage,  for  which  I  never  realized  one 
hundred  dollars,  over  my  expenses.  I  finally  settled 
the  matter,  and  got  a  release  of  the  mortgage,  by  giving 
a  deed  of  four  hundred  acres  of  land,  which  I  had  pro- 
cured on  a  tax  title. 

It  is  said  "to  be  an  ill  wind  that  blows  nobody  any 
good;"  and  so  it  was  in  this  case.  It  gave  me  an  op- 
portunity to  travel,  and  preach,  extensively,  and  to 
form  acquaintance  with  both  preachers  and  people, 
which  probably  aided  me  in  obtaining  a  place  in  the 
itinerancy.  I  descended  the  Ohio  Eiver  in  a  flat-boat, 
in  the  January  thaw  (1819),  which  broke  up  the  ice  in 
the  river  as  far  as  Madison,  Indiana,  which  I  made  my 
head -quarters.  From  this  I  traveled  as  far  as  Louis- 
ville, Ky.,  and  New  Albany,  Ind.,  and  to  some  distance 
into  the  country,  on  each  side  of  the  river;  but  failing 


204  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

to  sell  my  books,  as  I  bad  been  assured  I  should  do,  I 
left  them  at  Madison,  and  returned  home,  in  the  Spring 
of  1819. 

On  my  way  home  I  visited  an  uncle,  B.  K.  Cozier, 
whom  I  had  not  seen  in  fourteen  years,  when  he  left 
my  father's  house  in  Sing  Sing,  N.  Y.,  "  to  seek  his  for- 
tune in  the  West."  I  found  him  near  Springfield,  Ohio. 
His  wife  and  father-in-law  were  Methodists,  and  him- 
self favorably  inclined  that  way;  so  that  in  finding  me 
to  be  a  preacher  of  that  order,  they  received  me  with  a 
double  affection.  I  repeatedly  visited  them  afterward, 
in  my  journe}'ings  to  and  from  Conference. 

On  reaching  home,  where  Calvin  Hater  and  John 
Stewart  were  on  the  circuit,  then  having  an  extensive 
revival  of  religion  on  their  circuit,  I  entered  into  the 
work  with  them,  heart  and  soul.  Puter  and  I  spent 
much  time  together,  and  preaching  alternate!}^  we 
agreed  to  criticise  each  other's  sermons,  friendlily,  and 
for  our  mutual  benefit.  No  one  step  in  my  life  contrib- 
uted so  much  to  correct  my  language  in  public  speak- 
ing as  this.  It  put  me  upon  my  guard,  in  the  use  of 
words,  as  well  as  ideas,  and  it  assisted  me  greatly  in 
overcoming  the  ensnaring  and  unmeaning  man-fearing 
spirit  which  had  greatly  troubled  me  in  preaching  be- 
fore another,  and  especially  an  older,  preacher.  This 
fear,  so  very  common  with  young  preachers,  had  greatly 
embarrassed  me  thus  far  through  life,  notwithstanding 
appearances,  which,  some  old  preachers  told  me,  indi- 
cated that  I  feared  nothing  and  nobody. 

In  the  course  of  this  Summer,  1819,  I  attended  a 
camp-meeting,  near  Poland,  in  the  edge  of  Pennsyl- 
vania. I  preached  on  Friday  night;  but  J.  B.  Finley, 
the  presiding  elder,  and  J.  C.  Brooke,  the  preacher  on 
the  circuit,  both  appeared  to  be  on  me,  one  on  each 
shoulder.  They  were  both  large  men,  but  the  weight 
upon  my  mind  seemed  to  be  greater  than  their  persons 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  205 

would  upon  my  body.  Of  course  I  wallowed  in  the 
brush  most  laboriously  and  uncomfortably.  I  felt 
greatly  mortified,  and  ashamed  of  myself  and  my  per- 
formance. I  knew  it  was  foolish;  that  they  were 
friendly,  and  did  riot  listen  with  critical  ears.  I  knew, 
too,  that  they  had  been  young,  and  had,  probably,  suf- 
fered from  the  same  kind  of  fear,  and,  without  doubt, 
would  sympathize  with  and  pity  me.  But  all  this  did 
not  save  me.  I  resolved  to  try  harder  than  ever  to 
overcome  it.  in  future. 

On  Sunday  morning  brother  Finley  told  me  that  I 
must  preach  at  night;  and,  knowing  that  that  would  be 
the  last  sermon  on  the  ground,  as  the  meeting  was  to 
close  early  the  next  morning,  I  began  to  prepare  for 
"gathering  up  the  fragments,  that  nothing  be  lost." 
But  about  fifteen  minutes  before  nine,  the  preaching 
hour,  he  called  me  into  the  tent,  and  said  I  must  preach 
then,  as  brother  Carroll  preferred  to  preach  at  night. 
I  attempted  to  plead  in  excuse  that  I  was  preparing  for 
night,  and  the  subject  would  not  be  appropriate  for  the 
morning.  But  he  cut  me  short  by  saying,  "Never 
mind;  you  are  a  minute  man;  whet  up  your  old  Jeru- 
salem blade,  and  go  at  it." 

I  saw  there  was  no  escape.  Deference  to  age,  and 
obedience  to  those  who  were  appointed  to  bear  rule  over 
me,  was  a  lesson  that  I  had  learned  most  effectually, 
though  I  had  never  had  any  disposition  to  be  otherwise. 
So  I  bowed  in  submission. 

As  the  subject  I  was  preparing  would  not  be  appro- 
priate, the  question  arose  in  my  mind,  AVhat  shall  I 
preach  from?  A  text  that  I  had  used  several  times, 
with  good  effect,  as  at  Nelson,  on  Calvinism,  struck  my 
mind,  and  I  determined  to  use  it.  As  I  had  suffered 
so -much  in  mind  from  the  fear  of  old  preachers,  I  deter- 
mined to  make  a  great,  if  not  desperate,  effort  to  over- 
come it.     To  do  this  I  had   to   imagine,  for  the  time 


206  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

being,  that  I  was  the  greatest  man  upon  the  stand, 
which,  indeed,  was  literally  true  most  of  the  time,  for 
no  other  one  was  on  it. 

The  preachers  all  left  me  alone  on  the  stand,  and 
took  to  the  preachers'  tent,  behind  it,  but  near  enough 
for  me  to  hear  their  whispering,  and  low-toned  talk. 
Hearing  this,  the  thought  would  flit  across  my  mind 
that  I  had  said  something  out  of  joint,  and  they  would 
seem  to  be  crawling  up  my  back  like  a  tremor;  but  I 
would  rally,  and  shake  it  off,  resolved  to  keep  my  head 
above  the  brush,  if  possible;  I  concluded  that  it  was 
now  or  never. 

My  text  was  Eomans  viii,  28-30.  Being  in  a  Cal- 
vinistic  neighborhood,  many  of  whom  were  present,  and 
as  the  Methodists,  with  the  outsiders,  were  anxious  to 
know  what  could  be  done  with  the  text,  except  to  prove 
Calvinism.  I  soon  saw  that  all  ej^es  were  fixed  upon 
me,  and  all  ears  were  open  and  listening.  Seeing  this 
led  me  to  think  I  was  not  spoiling  eveiy  thing,  if,  in- 
deed, any  thing.  I  saw  that  I  had  the  people's  atten- 
tion, whether  I  pleased  the  preachers  or  not.  This 
encouraged  me.  and  I  let  loose  with  all  my  powers. 
Before  I  was  half  through,  half  of  the  large  congrega- 
tion were  on  their  feet,  with  eyes,  ears,  and  mouths 
open,  involuntarily  moving  toward  the  stand,  listening 
with  apparent  wonder  at  the  new  light  that  the  "  boy 
preacher"  was  pouring  upon  that  hitherto  difficult  text. 

According  to  the  arrangement,  and  in  accordance 
with  the  custom  of  those  times,  to  have  two  sermons  in 
succession,  before  the  congregation  was  dismissed,  from 
the  stand,  Dr.  S.  Bostwick,  formerly  a  presiding  elder 
in  New  England,  and  now  a  local  preacher,  a  man  of 
superior  preaching  power,  was  to  follow  me.  When, 
perhaps,  I  was  half,  or  two-thirds,  through,  he  came 
upon  the  stand,  with  one  or  two  others.  The  Doc- 
tor sat  and  rubbed    his   hands,  groaned,   and  sighed, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  207 

while  the  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks  rapidly.  Had  I 
known  him  then,  as  I  did  afterward,  I  should  have 
known  that  he  was  pleased;  but,  as  it  was,  I  was  in 
doubt,  and  had  fears  that  I  was  spoiling  every  thing, 
which  caused  his  groans  and  tears.  Yet,  when  I  looked 
at  the  congregation,  and  saw  the  deep  attention  of  all, 
and  the  apparent  joy  of  the  Methodists,  I  could  but 
reject  all  such  fears. 

In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  I  wound  up,  and  took 
my  seat,  when  the  preachers  all  left  the  tent,  and  came 
upon  the  stand.  This  difference  in  their  respect  and 
attention  caused  another  tremor  to  pass  over  me,  that 
possibly  I  had  disgusted  them;  but  of  this  the  Doctor 
soon  relieved  me,  when  he  began  his  discourse. 

His  text  was,  "All  Scripture  is  given  by  inspiration 
of  Grod,"  etc.  After  his  introduction,  he  said  that 
enough  had  been  said  in  reference  to  Calvinism,  and  so 
well  said,  that  he  need  not  touch  upon  it,  but  would  pa}' 
his  respects  to  Universalism,  Deism,  and  Atheism,  which 
he  did  with  the  most  brilliant  success.  I  thought 
if  those  were  his  views  of  my  performance,  I  should 
never  again  give  way  to  such  fears,  when  preaching  be- 
fore others ;  and,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  on  that  day  I 
got  the  victory,  so  that  from  thenceforward  it  has  never 
troubled  me. 

About  this  time,  in  conversation  with  brother  Fin- 
ley  and  others,  on  the  bodily  exercises  which  frequently 
attended  our  early  ministry,  and  as  illustrative  of  our 
early  history,  lie  related,  in  substance,  the  following 
incident: 

In  a  town  of  Kentucky,  I  think  it  was,  a  revival  of 
religion  was  in  progress,  of  a  most  powerful  character. 
In  the  same  block  where  the  meetings  were  held,  but 
in  the  opposite  side  of  it,  lived  a  widow  lady  with 
three  daughters,  who  wished  to  flourish  in  "  upper- 
tendom,"    and    she    imbibed   the    notion    that   religion 


208  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 

would  spoil  her  daughters  for  ladies,  and  ruin  their 
prospects  for  future  fashionable  and  respectable  settle- 
ment in  life.  The  daughters  had,  with  other  gay  young 
people  of  their  class,  been  to  the  meetings,  and  one  of 
them  was  awakened  to  a  proper  sense  of  her  sinfulness 
by  nature  and  practice,  and  desired  to  seek  the  salva- 
tion of  her  soul.  This  the  mother  could  not  endure, 
and  she  forbid  the  daughters,  and  especially  the  awak- 
ened one,  from  attending  the  meetings,  under  the  pains 
and  penalties  of  being  disowned  and  turned  out-of- 
doors,  for,  said  the  mother,  "  I  will  not  have  my  house 
and  family  so  disgraced  as  to  have  a  bawling  Method- 
ist in  it." 

The  front  room  of  the  lower  floor  of  the  house  was 
occupied  as  a  store,  and  the  family  lived  in  the  upper 
front  room,  using  the  back  kitchen  on  the  lower  floor 
for  the  purposes  of  cooking,  etc.  On  one  night  of  the 
meeting,  the  awakened  daughter,  not  daring  to  go  to 
it,  retired  from  the  rest  of  the  family  unobserved,  and 
took  a  seat  by  an  open  window  in  the  back  kitchen. 
The  weather  being  warm,  and  the  windows  of  the 
meeting-house  being  open,  and  the  preacher  speaking 
loud,  as  was  customary  in  those  days,  she  could  hear 
as  distinctly  as  if  she  had  been  in  the  meeting,  and  she 
was  so  affected,  and  her  bodily  powers  so  overcome, 
that  she  fell  upon  the  floor,  helpless  and  powerless,  and 
lay  so,  no  one  knew  how  long. 

About  the  close  of  the  meeting  the  family  missed 
the  penitent  daughter,  and  all  sprang  to  their  feet  to 
look  for  her,  the  mother  declaring  that  if  she  had  gone 
to  the  meeting  she  should  never  darken  her  door  again. 
The  house  was  searched  upstairs,  but  she  was  not  to 
be  found.  At  length  one  ran  down  into  the  kitchen, 
where  she  found  the  missing  one  on  the  floor,  as  she 
supposed,  in  a  fit  or  dead.  The  alarm  was  soon  given, 
the  doctor  sent  for,  and  the  helpless  one  was  borne  up- 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  209 

stairs.  The  doctor  declared  it  to  be  a  fit  of  the  apo- 
plexy, and  said  he  must  let  blood. 

At  this  moment  the  people  were  passing  by  from 
the  meeting,  and,  hearing  the  outcry,  some  of  them 
went  to  assist  the  family  in  the  supposed  affliction. 
Among  them  was  a  pious  mother  in  Israel,  who  had 
some  idea  of  the  state  of  the  penitent's  mind,  and  in- 
quired as  to  the  circumstances  under  which  she  was 
found.  When  she  learned  the  facts  of  the  case,  she  at 
once  comprehended  it,  and  told  the  doctor  and  the  fam- 
ily that  it  was  not  a  fit,  but  the  power  of  God;  that 
they  need  not  bleed,  it  would  do  no  good ;  but  if  they 
would  let  her  and  a  few  others  that  had  come  in  sing 
and  pray  with  her,  she  would  soon  come  out  of  the 
supposed  fit  rejoicing  and  happy. 

But  the  doctor  was  inexorable.  He  said  he  reck- 
oned he  knew  his  own  business,  and  thrust  the  good 
sister  back,  and  ordered  her  away  out  of  the  room. 
She  replied,  "I  shan't  go,  doctor;  and  you  are  too 
much  of  a  gentleman  to  put  me  out.  It  is  no  fit,  but 
the  power  of  God  upon  her;  she  's  under  conviction,  and 
if  you  '11  let  us  pray  with  her  she  '11  do  well  enough." 

By  this  time  the  arm  was  bound  up,  and  the  blood 
flowing  freely,  showing  that  it  was  not  apoplexy,  and 
the  good  sister  standing  close  by  the  penitent,  and  per- 
haps with  a  hand  on  her,  said  in  her  hearing: 

"Here,  Lord,  I  give  myself  away, 
'T  is  all  that  I  can  do." 

At  this  the  young  lady  sprang  to  her  feet,  with  a  loud 
shout  of  "  Glory  to  God  !  glory  to  Jesus !  he  has  par- 
doned my  sins!"  and  seeing  her  mother,  made  one  leap, 
the  blood  still  flying  over  the  white  dresses,  and  grasped 
her  round  the  neck,  with  a  "glory  to  Jesus!  mother; 
he  has  pardoned  all  my  sins,  and  my  soul  is  happy  !'' 
The  doctor  took  to  his  heels,  leaving  the  arm  bandaged 

18 


210  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  the  blood  flowing.  The  mother  fell  to  the  floor 
all  besmeared  with  blood,  and  cried  to  God  for  mercy; 
and  the  other  sisters,  who  had  been  weeping  and  wring- 
ing their  hands  at  the  supposed  death  of  the  other, 
now  turned  their  cry  for  mercy,  and  fell  to  the  floor. 
In  the  mean  time  the  sisters,  who  understood  the 
case,  released  the  bleeding  arm,  and  bound  it  up  as  best 
they  could,  while  she  was  jumping  and  shouting.  But 
there  lay  the  mother  and  the  other  two  daughters,  with 
hands,  faces,  dresses,  and  carpet  sprinkled  with  blood, 
crying  for  mercy,  while  the  few  praying  ones,  joined 
by  the  new  convert,  were  singing  and  praying  for 
them.  They  wrere  soon  converted  and  rejoicing  with 
the  rest.  But  the  doctor  did  not  hear  the  last  of  his 
case  of  apoplexy  for  a  long  time.  Nor  did  the  widow 
feel  that  her  house  and  family  were  disgraced  by  the 
religion  of  Jesus.  The  doctor  suffered  in  his  profes- 
sion, for  even  the  wicked  thought  he  ought  to  know 
his  profession  better. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

I  HAD  now  been  a  local  preacher  for  over  four  years, 
and  entitled,  by  Discipline  and  the  usage  of  the 
Church,  to  deacon's  orders;  and  in  June,  1819,  I  ap- 
plied for  and  obtained  from  the  quarterly  conference  a 
recommendation  to  the  Ohio  Annual  Conference  for 
ordination. 

It  has  often  been  inquired,  "What  is  there  in  a 
name?"  In  my  case  I  found  that  a  name  was  worth 
something  in  commanding  respect  and  giving  confi- 
dence. I  lived  thirteen  miles  from  Warren,  Trumbull 
county,  Ohio;  having  business  in  that  town  one  day,  I 
inquired  if  they  had  preaching  in  town  on  the  ensuing 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  211 

Sabbath,  and  found  there  was  no  appointment  out. 
The  Baptists  were  the  only  people  who  had  regular 
service  in  the  town  up  to  that  time;  but  somehow  there 
was  a  vacancy  on  that  day,  and  I  obtained  liberty  to 
use  the  court-house.  So  far  as  I  could  learn,  no  Meth- 
odist minister  had  ever  preached  in  the  place;  it  was 
something  of  a  dashing  or  daring  character  for  "the 
boy  preacher"  to  make  a  push  into  what  was  then  the 
principal  town  or  village  on  the  Connecticut  Western 
Keserve.  But  it  seemed  providential  that  I  was  led  to 
the  place,  at  that  particular  time — the  only  time  for 
weeks,  before  and  after,  that  the  court-house  was  not 
to  be  occupied.     But  it  turned  out  well. 

The  only  knowledge  the  people  had  of  me  up  to 
that  time  was  as  a  soldier;  and  the  fact  that  I  was 
known  then  to  be  a  Methodist  and  a  soldier,  attracted 
some  attention  and  elicited  some  remarks.  But  hear- 
ing that  he  that  was  a  Methodist  soldier  in  the  place, 
in  the  late  war,  was  to  preach,  drew  out  rather  more 
than  an  ordinary  congregation.  How  well  I  performed 
is  not  for  me  to  say ;  but  the  result  showed  that  it  was 
at  least  satisfactory.  A  Baptist  deacon  invited  me  to 
dinner,  and  as  he  was  the  principal  man,  in  religious 
matters,  in  the  town,  I  presumed  that  a  part  of  his 
purpose  in  so  doing  was  to  ascertain  my  authority  to 
])reach,  for  he  was  particularly  inquisitive  as  to  whether 
I  was  ordained  or  not.  I  told  him  I  was  not,  but  was 
a  candidate  for  ordination,  and  expected  to  receive  or- 
ders in  August  ensuing.  This  appeared  to  satisfy  him, 
so  that  there  was  something  in  a  name. 

I  left  home  that  morning,  rode  thirteen  miles, 
preached  twice,  and  returned  home  the  same  da}-; 
such  was  the  effect  that,  in  the  ensuing  Conference 
year,  a  door  was  opened  in  that  town  for  Methodist 
preaching,  which  has  since  been  kept  open  with  good 
effect. 


212  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  Annual  Conference  met  that  year  in  Cincin- 
nati, Ohio,  three  hundred  or  more  miles  from  home. 
"When  brother  Finle}7  presented  my  case  to  the  Con- 
ference, as  I  was  told,  he  said  that  within  the  past  year 
he  had  become  better  acquainted  with  me  than  lie  had 
previously  been,  and  was  now  satisfied  that  those  ap- 
pearances, for  which  I  was  rejected  the  year  before, 
were  not  real ;  that  they  arose  from  natural  and  una- 
voidable traits,  and  he  wTas  satisfied  that  I  ought  to  be 
ordained  and  employed  in  the  itinerancy.  The  conse- 
quence was  that  I  was  elected,  and  ordained  by  Bishop 
Roberts,  and  the  presiding  elder  was  authorized  to 
employ  me  on  the  old  Erie  circuit. 

Cincinnati,  at  that  time,  was  comparatively  a  small 
place.  The  old  Wesley  Chapel  was  a  low,  one-story  stone 
building,  with  brick  wings  at  the  back  end,  and  there 
was  a  new  and  unfinished  two-story  brick  church  some 
distance  from  Wesley.  These  were  then  all  the  churches 
we  had  in  the  city. 

There  were  no  water- works  then,  and  but  two  or 
three  public  pumps  in  wells  to  supply  the  city  with  wa- 
ter. The  most  of  the  people  bought  river  water  that 
was  hauled  up  in  large  casks,  on  drays,  and  discharged 
into  barrels  at  the  houses,  in  which  wTere  soon  seen  a 
kind  of  animal  much  resembling  a  louse  in  size  and 
color,  but  of  very  quick  motion  in  the  water.  This 
water  was  not  palatable  to  drink,  and  we,  the  visitors 
to  the  Conference,  to  get  drink  in  the  hot  weather  of 
August,  had  to  seek  the  public  pumps,  or  buy  water- 
melons to  quench  our  thirst. 

The  Conference  in  those  days  sat  with  closed  doors, 
no  one  being  admitted  but  members.  The  probati on- 
ers and  local  preachers  present,  used  to  congregate 
outside  of  the  house  in  which  the  Conference  met, 
which  we  jocosely  called  the  lower  house.  When  there 
was  preaching,  day  or  night,  we  were  on  hand  to  par- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  213 

ticipate  in  the  exercises,  and  we  often  had  prayer -meet- 
ings and  revivals  of  religion  on  such  occasions. 

In  our  'lower  house,"  I  frequently  met  a  local 
preacher  of  the  city,  who  was  a  druggist,  and  also  con- 
nected with  a  wholesale  dry  goods  store,  whose  history 
showed  some  of  the  fruits  of  early  Methodism.  He  was  a 
physician  in  some  part  of  Pennsylvania,  I  think  in  the 
Susquehanna  Valley,  but  becoming  intemperate  lost  his 
practice,  and  wandered  away  from  home  and  family 
a  common  drunkard.  He  somehow  reached  Pittsburg, 
and  got  into  a  flat-boat — the  usual  mode  of  navigating 
the  river  in  those  days — and  was  landed  in  Cincinnati. 

Here  he  made  himself  known  as  a  doctor,  but  being 
a  common  drunkard  no  one  employed  him.  As  is 
common  with  such  characters,  he  could  always  find 
means,  somehow  or  other,  to  get  whisky  enough  every 
day  to  get  drunk,  and  was  often  seen  lying  in  the 
street,  when  the  boys  hearing  him  called  doctor,  ridi- 
culed him,  and  often  covered  him,  face  and  eyes,  with 
dust  or  mud. 

While  in  this  plight  one  day,  a  man  who  knew  him 
in  Pennsylvania  in  his  better  days,  and  now  lived  on 
the  Little  Miami,  some  five  miles  from  the  city,  saw 
him,  and  recognizing  him,  and  knowing  him  to  be  a 
good  doctor,  when  sober,  took  him  into  his  wagon  and 
carried  him  home.  This  good  Samaritan  was  a  Method- 
ist, and  determined  to  save  the  fallen  doctor.  He  told 
him  that  he  should  stay  with  him,  should  have  no  liquor, 
and  must  and  should  overcome  his  habits.  To  this  the 
doctor  yielded ;  but  it  was  three  months  before  he  re- 
covered a  natural  appetite,  or  could  control  his  nerves 
or  muscles  so  as  to  work. 

Being  now  in  a  house  of  prayer,  and  under  moral 
and  religious  influences,  he  began  to  think  of  his 
soul  and  its  eternal  welfare.  And  as  he  recovered  his 
health,  he  accompanied  his  benefactor  to  the  house  of 


214  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

God,  and  soon  after  obtained  religion.  This  divine  and 
radical  change  introduced  him  into  a  new  world,  and 
inspired  him  with  new  hopes.  Having  disgraced  him- 
self and  his  profession,  he  determined  never  again  to 
practice  medicine,  but  get  a  little  farm  and  a  log-cabin, 
if  he  could,  and  send  for  his  family,  whom  he  had  ap- 
prised of  his  whereabouts  and  happy  change,  and  also 
his  purposes  for  the  future.  lie  soon  found  that  labor 
on  the  farm  contributed  largely  to  the  increase  of  his 
health  and  strength,  etc.,  and  in,  say,  six  months,  he 
was  a  man  again,  but  determined  not  to  be  a  doctor; 
but  this  purpose  was  soon  thwarted. 

It  soon  happened  that  a  neighboring  woman  was  in 
dangerous  labor,  and  there  was  no  physician  nearer  than 
the  city.  At  this  crisis  his  benefactress  roused  him  up 
at  midnight  and  told  him  he  mvst  and  should  go  and 
put  the  woman  to  bed,  that  she  would  die  if  he  did 
not,  for  a  physician  could  not  be  got  from  the  city 
in  time  to  save  her.  He  still  refused.  But  it  was  urged 
that  if  he  refused  the  woman  would  die  and  he  would 
be  responsible  before  God,  and  he  finally  yielded  and 
saved  the  woman.  This,  of  course,  gave  him  an  intro- 
duction to  the  ladies  of  the  settlement,  and  his  success 
gained  their  confidence;  and  as  women  usually  control 
the  house  in  the  employment  of  physicians,  he  was  soon 
called  on  for  medicine,  advice,  etc.  But  he  had  no 
medicine,  nor  had  he  money  or  credit  to  procure  any. 

His  friend  urged  him  to  resume  the  practice,  and 
to  encourage  him,  went  with  him  to  the  city,  and  was 
his  security  for  an  outfit  of  medicine.  And  his  success 
soon  secured  him  an  extensive  practice.  He  sent  for 
his  family,  and  in  a  few  years  moved  into  the  city,  and 
rose  to  the  position  in  which  I  found  him. 

From  this  Conference  at  Cincinnati,  I  returned 
home  with  a  lighter  heart  than  I  had  had  for  a  long 
time,  and  soon  reached  my  circuit,  the  nearest  appoint- 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  215 

ment  of  which  was  twenty-one  miles  from  my  homo. 
I  had  John  Summerville  for  a  colleague,  who  was  in 
charge  of  the  circuit. 

Old  Erie  circuit,  at  that  time,  embraced  part  of 
Mercer,  Crawford,  Erie,  Yenango,  and  Butler  counties, 
in  Pennsylvania,  with  a  few  appointments  in  North- 
Eastern  Ohio.  It  was  four  hundred  miles  round,  hav- 
ing forty-four  appointments  to  fill  in  four  weeks.  In 
one  week  we  preached  fourteen  times  and  met  twelve 
classes.  The  roads  in  those  times  were  extremely  bad, 
and  no  preacher  thought  of  going  on  wheels  to  an  ap- 
pointment. Much  of  the  way  was  through  a  dense 
forest,  with  only  a  bridle  path  over  logs  and  rocks, 
through  mud  and  water,  where  wheels  had  never  run. 
"When  these  paths  forked,  our  "guide-boards"  were  the 
twigs  of  brush  bent  in  the  direction  in  which  we  sl:ould 
go.  But  despite  all  this,  as  might  be  supposed,  we 
often  missed  our  way,  unless  we  had  a  guide  for  the 
first  time  going  from  one  place  to  another,  yet  I  only 
missed  one  appointment  on  this  account  in  the  whole 
year. 

In  this  one  case,  I  left  Dawson's  to  go  to  Oil  Creek 
at  the  ford ;  but  missing  my  way  I  wandered  to  the 
left  on  to  the  brow  of  the  hills  or  little  mountains  that 
overlook  the  Alleghany  River,  and  was  in  the  vicinity 
of  a  most  singular  natural  well.  This  was  said  to  be 
about  six  feet  open  at  the  top,  and  on  the  highest 
ridge,  but  no  bottom  had  then,  if  ever  since,  been 
found.  A  constant  current  of  air  came  out  of  it,  and 
of  such  a  nature  as  to  putrefy  fresh  meat  in  a  few  min- 
utes. This  fact  was  discovered  by  a  hunter  suspend- 
ing some  game  in  it  by  a  rope,  while  he  extended  his 
hunt  a  short  time.  The  cause  of  this  bad  air  was  not 
known.  But  the  recent  discovery  of  the  coal  oil  in  that 
region,  and  on  all  sides  of  it,  may,  possibly,  give  some 
clew  to  the  phenomenon. 


216  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Oil  and  French  Creeks,  both  of  which  we  had  to 
cross,  had  few  bridges  in  those  days.  We  had  to  ford 
them,  which  was  done  sometimes  when  flat-boats  and 
rafts  were  running  them.  We  thought  but  little  of 
fording  streams  when  the  water  came  up  to  our  saddle- 
skirts,  or  to  our  knees,  as  we  sat  in  the  saddle.  If  the 
water  was  swimming  deejD,  we  took  off  our  saddles  and 
swam  the  horse  by  the  side  of  a  skiff  or  canoe. 

This  was  the  circuit  from  which  Bishop  E.  E.  Rob- 
erts started  out  to  preach.  His  log  residence  and  mill 
were  on  our  route,  and  passed  on  every  round  on  the 
circuit,  and  as  often  reminded  us  of  that  great  and 
good  man.  Many  of  his  relatives  lived  there  still, 
a  large  portion  of  whom  were  connected  with  the 
Church. 

This  year  (1819-20)  we  commenced  regular  preach- 
ing in  Meadville.  Methodist  preachers  had  occasionally 
preached  there,  but  it  was  not  on  our  plan.  To  reach 
it  we  preached  in  the  morning  at  Gravel  Eun,  now 
Cambridge,  met  class  and  then  rode  ten  miles  to  reach 
the  town.  We  obtained  the  old  court-house  to  preach 
in,  which  has  long  since  disappeared,  and  obtained 
lodging  as  we  could,  sometimes  with  one  and  some- 
times with  another.  As  we  bad  large  and  attentive 
congregations,  Ave  found  numerous  friends  to  lodge 
with.  Our  ministry  evidently  made  a  favorable  im- 
pression, and  the  year  following  a  class  was  formed, 
which  continued  to  grow  till  Methodism  took  a  high 
and  respectable  stand  with  other  denominations. 

As  was  usual  in  our  introduction  to  any  new  place, 
we  had  some  opponents,  who  intimated  that  our  extem- 
poraneous preaching  was  from  memorizing  other  men's 
sermons.  Some  who  befriended  us,  were  the  relatives 
and  friends  of  Methodists  over  the  mountains,  and  to 
defend  us  from  this  charge,  solicited  texts  to  be  given 
us,  from  Avhich  they  pledged  themselves  that  we  should 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  217 

preach.  Two  such  texts  were  given;  of  course,  they 
were  difficult  ones,  and  my  colleague  declined  to  use 
cither  of  them.  Being  unwilling  to  be  thus  blulfed  off, 
I  preached  from  both,  and  gave  such  satisfaction  as  to 
quiet  all  opposition  from  that  quarter. 

On  one  occasion,  I  gave  the  people  an  idea  of  our 
ministry,  our  call  of  God  to  it,  and  our  course  of  study, 
by  which,  self-taught,  we  obtained  our  erudition.  And 
in  giving  the  evidence  of  a  divine  call,  quoted  our  rule 
on  that  subject — has  he  gilts,  has  he  grace,  has  he 
fruit?  if  these  be  found  in  him,  Ave  believe  he  is  called 
of  God  to  the  work.  I  dwelt  particularly  upon  the 
fruit,  in  the  conversion  of  sinners,  and  quoted  Paul's 
language  to  the  Corinthians,  "Ye  are  the  seals  of  my 
apostleship,"  etc.  I  had  no  design  in  this,  further  than 
to  enlighten  the  people  in  the  characteristics  of  Meth- 
odism. But  I  found,  on  a  subsequent  round,  that  it 
had  hit  the  Presbyterian  minister  in  the  place,  who 
had  asked  for  a  dismission  from  his  charge,  alleging,  as 
the  reason,  that  he  had  been  preaching  there  for  five 
years,  and  he  was  not  aware  that  one  single  soul  had 
been  converted  to  God,  and  therefore  concluded  that 
he  was  not  called  of  God  to  preach  in  that  place, 

Meadville  then,  as  now,  was  the  Athens  of  North- 
Western  Pennsylvania,  being  the  seat  of  Alleghany 
College.  This  College  was  chartered,  I  think,  in  1816. 
The  town  contained  as  large  a  pro  rata  of  the  literati 
of  the  State  as  any  other,  if  not  even  larger;  because 
the  College  naturally  attracted  that  class  of  emigrants 
to  its  vicinity,  that  they  might  enjoy  its  benefits,  in  the 
education  of  their  children. 

There  were  two  circumstances  that  favored  us,  in 
this  beginning;  there  was,  at  that  time,  no  very  popular 
preacher  in  town  of  any  other  denomination,  and  our 
off-hand  shots  being  with  life  and  animation,  and  zeal 
and  power,  they  very  naturally  attracted  the  attention 

Id 


218  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

of  the  public.  As  the  Methodists  were  becoming  quite 
numerous  in  the  country,  whose  votes  counted  as  fast 
at  an  election  as  any  others,  politicians,  who  usually 
congregate  at  the  county  seats,  from  policy  favored  us, 
though  they  might  be  skeptical  as  to  religion.  These 
being  among  the  respectables  of  the  town,  their  attend- 
ing upon  our  ministry  drew  out  others,  so  that  the  old 
court-house  was  usually  filled  with  hundreds  of  atten- 
tive hearers. 

We,  also,  commenced  regular  preaching  in  Mercer, 
but  not  under  the  same  favorable  circumstances.  We 
obtained  the  court-house  to  preach  in,  but  could  not 
procure  much  of  a  congregation.  Bigotry  and  super- 
stition seemed  to  control.  The  man  with  whom  we 
lodged  was  a  lawyer  and  politician,  and  though  of 
Methodist  parents,  and  favored  us  on  this  ground,  as 
well  as  policy,  yet  was  fast  going  over  the  dam  into  a 
drunkard's  grave  and  a  drunkard's  hell.  His  wife  was 
an  amiable  woman,  but  much  dispirited  by  the  course 
which  he  pursued,  and  perhaps  entertained  us  more 
from  a  hope  that  we  should  by  some  means  reclaim 
her  husband,  than  from  a  love  to  religion,  though  she 
seemed  to  respect  it. 

Not  being  able  to  call  out  a  congregation,  I  resorted 
to  a  little  of  Lorenzo  Dow's  policy  in  such  cases.  I 
said  to  those  present,  "  From  the  smallncss  of  the  con- 
gregation, it  looks  as  if  the  people  in  this  place  are 
tired  of  hearing  the  Word  of  God  preached  from,  etc. ; 
therefore,  when  I  come  again  in  four  weeks,  I  will 
preach  from  the  words  of  the  devil."  This  had  its 
desired  effect,  for  the  house  was  crowded,  and  one  sin- 
ner, that  I  knew  of,  was  awakened  and  afterward  con- 
verted. And  we  succeeded  in  forming  a  small  class 
before  the  year  was  out. 

We  had  a  general  revival  of  religion  on  the  circuit, 
and  at  the  second  quarter  we  had  to  enlarge  it  to  six 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  219 

weeks,  and  Thomas  R.  Ruckle  was  sent  to  assist  us. 
We  labored  hard,  worked  in  harmony,  and  God  crowned 
our  efforts  with  an  increase  of  three  hundred  souls. 

In  the  first  half  of  the  year  I  had  the  privilege  of 
visiting  my  family  once  in  four  weeks,  and  spending 
with  them  two  da}~s  and  three  nights;  but  in  the  last 
half  of  it  I  could  have  only  one  day  and  two  nights, 
once  in  six  weeks.  These  were  the  days  of  sacrifice 
and  toil,  and  it  touched  my  feelings  to  the  quick  when 
my  little  boy  inquired  why  I  did  not  stay  at  home 
with  them,  as  other  pa's  did  with  their  children. 

I  had  previously  paid  some  attention  to  grammar, 
but  this  year  I  gave  it  a  more  thorough  study,  memo- 
rizing the  rules  as  I  rode  from  one  appointment  to 
another,  and  when  I  met  with  one  who  understood  it, 
improved  the  time  in  parsing.  I  also  read  the  equiva- 
lent of  about  twenty-five  octavo  volumes.  The  life  of 
Dr.  Coke,  by  Drew,  I  commenced  on  Monday  after 
preaching,  and  finished  it  on  Friday  while  on  my  horse, 
before  I  reached  my  appointment,  having  preached 
each  day. 

In  cold  weather  we  had  to  read  in  the  log-cabins, 
and  among  the  noisy  children,  there  often  being  but 
one  room  to  cook,  eat,  preach,  pray,  and  sleep  in  for 
the  whole  family.  In  warm  weather,  if  we  had  an 
hour  to  read,  we  resorted  to  the  woods,  from  which 
arose  the  name  and  title  of  "Brush  College,"  in  which 
the  early  Methodist  preachers  were  said  to  have 
graduated. 

We  occasionally  came  athwart  a  man  of  letters,  so 
called,  because  of  his  academic  or  collegiate  advantages, 
whom  we  would  sometimes  question  till  they  became 
weary.  We  were  bent  upon  the  acquisition  of  knowl- 
edge, particularly  such  as  pertained  to  our  profession, 
and  therefore  resorted  to  all  honest  and  honorable 
means  tending  to  that  object;  our  chief  means  was  in 


220  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

books.  In  the  so-called  classics  we  were  behind  what 
are  called  classical  scholars.  Bat  in  theology,  history, 
philosophy,  logic,  rhetoric,  etc.,  we  were  able  to  hold  our 
own  with  them,  and  in  the  ultimate  success  of  our 
ministry  proved  that  our  mode  of  study  was  fully  equal, 
if  not  superior,  to  the  schools. 

In  those  days  controversy  was  the  order  of  the  day. 
Calvinism  was  our  chief  opponent;  but  Universalism, 
deism,  and  atheism  received  due  attention.  We  had 
also  to  meet  and  refute  the  errors  of  Arius  and  Socinus, 
in  which  we  were  tolerably  successful. 

My  rule  of  study  was  to  observe  the  language  and 
enunciation  of  the  most  approved  speakers  and  authors, 
and  adopting  their  style  as  my  own,  but  in  my  own 
manner. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  we  held  two  camp-meet- 
ings on  our  circuit,  both  of  which  were  attended  with 
great  power  and  resulted  in  much  good. 

In  addition  to  these  I  attended  a  camp-meeting  at 
North-East,  E.  C.  Hatton  preacher  in  charge,  under 
circumstances  rather  out  of  the  ordinary  course  of 
things.  The  work  of  religion  was  at  a  very  low  ebb  on 
the  circuit.  Hatton  was  troubled  with  the  hypochon- 
dria to  such  an  extent  that,  under  its  influence,  he  had 
greatly  neglected  his  work,  and  seemed  to  have  lost  all 
influence  among  his  people.  The  camp-ground  was  half 
a  mile  from  the  village;  it  was  an  old  one;  but  some- 
how he  had  not  energy  or  influence  enough  to  induce 
his  people  to  clear  off  the  fallen  brush,  and  limbs,  or 
arrange  the  seats  and  preachers'  tent,  stand,  etc. 

Four  preachers  of  us  went  upon  the  ground  and  had 
to  clear  off  the  fallen  limbs,  arrange  the  seats,  fix  the 
stand,  and  clear  the  old  straw  out  of  the  preachers'  tent 
and  burn  it  to  get  rid  of  the  fleas.  In  the  mean  time 
our  horses  were  sent  to  a  rich  farmer,  a  Methodist,  by 
Hatton's   direction,  and  it   being  June,  we  presumed 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  221 

that  hay  was  scarce,  or  all  gone,  and  therefore  requested 
that  they  might  have  pasture  and  grain  twice  a  day. 
The  boy  came  back  with  them,  saying,  "  He  saj^s  he  has 
no  pasture  to  spare,"  but  did  not  tell  the  whole  story, 
which  was  that  he  had  no  pasture,  but  had  hay  and 
grain.  The  boy  thinking  it  must  be  pasture  or  nothing, 
came  back  with  his  unwelcome  message.  This  rather 
induced  the  idea  that  the  people  whom  we  had  come 
to  serve  were  retrograding  to  heathenism,  and  that  we 
must  put  our  shoulders  to  the  wheel  in  good  earnest. 
Hatton  seemed  to  feel  worse  than  ever,  but  turned 
round  and  found  a  place  for  our  horses. 

Hatton  was  a  man  who  stood  some  inches  higher 
than  the  mass  of  men;  he  had  a  beautiful  form  of  per- 
son; he  was  veiy  gentlemanly  in  his  demeanor  and 
intercourse  with  others,  when  himself;  he  was  intelli- 
gent and  of  superior  preaching  powers,  and  well 
calculated  to  make  a  favorable  impression  upon  stran- 
gers at  first  view.  The  temperament  of  his  mind  was 
nervous,  and  he  was  either  on  the  mountain-top  or  in 
the  slough  of  despondency. 

When  in  company  with  preachers  he  was  full  of 
glee  and  jocose.  I  heard  him  say  once,  when  in  such  a 
glee,  on  his  way  to  Conference,  that  he  should  weep  in 
loneliness  for  two  weeks  after  he  got  home ;  but  he  said 
he  didn't  care,  he  enjoyed  himself  so  well  in  company 
with  his  brethren  that  he  was  willing  to  have  the 
dumps  for  a  month  after  it,  for  the  sake  of  the  pleasure 
he  enjoyed  at  one  Conference. 

He  was  studious  and  communicative  except  when 
under  depression  of  spirits,  and  then  he  was  very  mo- 
rose, absent-minded  and  disagreeable  in  company,  and 
paying  no  attention  to  books.  This  disease — for  such  it 
is — is  usually  produced  by  studious  and  sedentary 
habits,  and  on  persons  of  strong  nervous  sensibilities. 
In  his  case,  and  generally  in  others  of  like  temperament 


222  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  habits,  he  had  his  ups  and  downs,  and  his  neglect 
of  appointments  when  under  depression,  destroyed  his 
influence,  and  led  to  the  state  of  things  we  found  in  his 
charge. 

A  few  specimens  of  the  effects  and  consequences  of 
this  dire  disease  may  serve  as  a  warning  to  others  thus 
inclined. 

In  going  to  an  appointment,  one  Sunday  morning, 
he  saw  a  dog  that  pleased  him,  and  agreed  with  the 
owner  to  give  ten  dollars  for  him,  when  he  returned; 
being  absent-minded,  he  had  forgotten  the  day  of  the 
week,  and  the  business  he  was  on.  When  he  "came  to 
himself,'1  and  recollecting  the  day  and  his  business,  and 
that  he  had  no  earthly  use  for  the  dog  on  any  day  of 
the  week,  he  sank  down  almost  into  despair  of  any 
mercy,  or  forgiveness,  from  God;  but  he  never  called  for 
the  dog. 

At  one  time,  after  preaching  at  night,  while  in  deep 
despondenc3T  of  mind,  he  went  to  his  horse,  which  he 
had  hitched  in  the  corner  of  a  fence,  and,  without  un- 
hitching the  bridle,  mounted  the  horse,  with  his  face  to 
the  rear,  and  struck  his  spurs  into  the  horse's  sides, 
which  made  him  spring  forward,  and  tilt  the  rider  over 
his  tail  on  to  the  ground.  This  brought  him  to  his 
senses,  when  he  unhitched,  and  rode  off  in  good  order. 

At  another  time  he  went  to  preach  in  a  school-house, 
the  joists  of  which  were  rather  low,  but  high  enough  to 
clear  his  head  a  foot,  or  more.  After  sitting  a  while,  he 
rose  and  went  out,  stooping,  as  if  crawling  under  some- 
thing, and  took  a  seat  on  a  stump.  The  congregation 
waited,  became  impatient,  and  one  went  to  him  to  know 
if  he  was  not  going  to  preach. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  "  if  you  will  come  out  here;  but  I 
can't  stand  up  inside  of  the  house;  do  n't  you  see  how 
tall  I  am,  all  at  once?" 

"  O  pshaw  !  it  is  only  your  notion  ;  you  are  no  larger 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  223 

than  common  ;  and  you  have  preached  there  many  a 
time.     Come  along,  the  people  are  waiting." 

"Well,  I  can  try  it ;  but  I  know  that  I  can  't  stand 
up  in  that  room;"  and  he  walked  in,  stooping,  as  if  it 
was  really  as  he  supposed.  The  people  understood  his 
freaks,  and  began  to  titter  and  laugh.  On  seeing  this 
he  felt  rather  roused,  as  if  they  had  questioned  his 
word,  and  to  show  them  that  he  was  right,  raised  up  at 
full  length,  expecting  to  hit  his  head  against  the  joists; 
but  meeting  with  no  obstruction  in  his  upward  motion, 
a  flush  of  shame  flashed  across  his  feelings,  and  drove 
off  the  fit,  and  he  preached  in  his  usual  way. 

But  the  climax  of  his  folly,  in  such  freaks,  occurred 
in  the  presence  of  Dr.  Bostwick.  Hatton  was  preach- 
ing, and  all  at  once  imagined  that  the  top  of  his  head, 
from  his  mouth  upward,  had  left  its  position,  and  as- 
cended to  the  ceiling  above,  and  that  he  must  sit  down, 
and  sit  still,  till  it  descended  to  its  place  again,  holding 
his  head  in  the  right  position,  lest  his  nose  should  be 
on  one  side.  As  this  thought  suddenly  occurred  to  his 
mind,  he,  as  suddenly,  stopped  preaching  and  sat  down, 
requesting  the  Doctor  to  finish  the  discourse.  The 
Doctor,  understanding  his  case,  and  also  the  subject  he 
was  discussing,  rose,  and  began  where  Hatton  had  left 
off,  and  went  on  as  if  it  was  his  own  subject.  Hatton 
listened  a  while,  and  was  so  pleased  to  think  that  the 
Doctor  took  the  same  views  of  the  subject  that  he  did, 
began  to  cheer  up,  and  on  feeling  of  his  face,  finding 
his  head  in  position,  and  his  nose  on  the  right  side  of 
it,  he  jumped  up,  and  said,  "Doctor,  I  can  finish  now," 
and  went  on  to  the  close.  Such  cases  could  be  greatly 
multiplied,  but  this  is  sufficient  for  present  purposes. 

Hatton,  as  might  be  expected,  was  improvident  in 
temporal,  as  well  as  spiritual,  things.  If  he  received  but 
little,  he  would  screw  along  somehow,  with  bitter  moan- 
ings;  but  if  he  received  much,  it  all  went;  he  laid  up 


224  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

nothing.  But  poor  pay,  the  natural  consequence  of 
neglect  of  appointments,  bore  so  heavily  upon  his  mind 
that,  having  "a  call"  to  the  Cumberland  Presbyterians, 
he  accepted  it,  and  went  to  Nashville,  Tennessee,  about 
the  year  1834.  Soon  "finding  himself  in  the  wrong 
box,"  he  was  said  to  have  returned  to  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  the  last  I  heard  of  him  he  was 
still  there,  beloved  and  respected,  and  in  a  good  old 
nge;  but  falling  within  the  Southern  secession,  went 
with  that  Church  in  1845. 

But  to  return  to  the  camp-meeting  at  North-East. 
The  blunder  of  the  boy,  in  reference  to  our  horses, 
tended  to  rouse  up  our  energies,  if  possible,  to  save  the 
people  of  that  vicinity.  The  encampment  was  large  for 
a  sparsely  settled  country.  The  preaching  and  prayer- 
meetings  were  attended  with  great  power,  and  with 
most  signal  success.  The  awakening  of  sinners  soon 
commenced,  and  the  altar,  the  prayer-circles,  and 
prayer-tents,  were  soon  filled  with  penitents,  and  con- 
verts were  numerous.  The  moral  atmosphere  of  the 
place  was,  like  the  ground  upon  which  Moses  stood  be- 
fore the  burning  bush,  holy;  the  thousands  in  attend- 
ance seemed  to  be  awe-struck  as  soon  as  they  came 
upon  the  ground. 

A  naval  officer,  from  Erie,  with  his  marquee,  and 
marines  in  attendance,  took  a  position  in  the  circle  of 
tents.  He  came,  he  said,  to  enjoy  a  season  of  camping 
out,  and  seeing  the  multitudes  in  attendance,  more  for 
recreation  and  health  than  otherwise;  but  he  was 
greatly  surprised  at  the  religious  influence  pervading 
the  ground.  "It  is,"  he  said,  "the  most  solemn  place  I 
was  ever  in  ;  as  awful  as  the  day  of  judgment." 

On  Saturday  night,  Win.  Swayze,  the  presiding  elder, 
as  he  was  wont  to  do  under  such  excitements,  sprang 
from  the  stand,  and  went  out  among  the  people,  and  if 
he  found  one  who  was  wounded  in  spirit,  but  had  not 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  225 

courage  enough  to  go  forward  for  prayers,  he  would  in- 
vite, and  lead  him  to  the  altar.  In  such  efforts  he  was 
more  successful  than  most  others,  and  he,  apparently, 
thus  saved  many,  who  would  have,  otherwise,  resisted 
and  grieved  the  Good  Spirit.  I  had  preached  upon  the 
general  judgment,  and  Swayze  exhorted  after  me,  in  one 
of  his  happiest  strains,  having  a  gift  for  such  efforts. 
An  awe-striking  solemnity  pervaded  the  whole  assem- 
bly. The  naval  officer,  who  always  sat  on  the  front 
seat,  next  to  the  altar,  and  behaved  in  the  most  gentle- 
manly manner,  on  seeing  and  hearing  Swayze  out 
among  the  congregation,  evidently  turned  pale,  and 
afterward-,  said,  "I  think  I  shall  not  feel  more  solemn 
at  the  bar  of  God  !" 

On  Sunday  the  congregation  was  large,  and  very 
solemn.  At  three  o'clock,  Hatton,  who  had  got  his 
harness  on  anew,  j:>oured  forth  a  torrent  of  eloquence 
and  truth,  which,  being  accompanied  by  great  power 
from  above,  made  the  sinner  tremble  in  his  shoes.  All 
at  once  two  men  sprang  from  their  seats,  and  ran  to  the 
rear  of  the  congregation,  and  meeting  there,  one  said  to 
the  other,  "I  never  saw  such  men  before  as  these  Meth- 
odist preachers  are.  They  seem  to  be  determined  that 
people  shall  get  religion  whether  they  want  it  or  not. 
That  fellow  who  is  preaching,  and  the  one  sitting  be- 
hind him,  had  got  their  eyes  on  me,  and  they  were 
both  just  a-going  to  spring  out  and  seize  me,  and  drag 
me  into  the  prayer-meeting,  as  they  did  last  night,  and 
I  but  just  made  my  escape."  "Why,"  said  the  other, 
"  that  was  what  they  were  going  to  cfo  to  me,  and  I  did 
but  just  escape  them ;"  and  they  both  concluded  to  go 
home,  and  not  be  caught  so. 

One  of  them,  from  whom  we  afterward  got  the  story, 
went  home,  eight  miles,  spent  a  sleepless  night,  and 
having  no  appetite  to  eat,  returned  to  the  camp-ground 
Monday  morning.     Going  up  to  the  first  praj-er-circle 


226  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

he  came  to,  he  saw  the  other  man  on  his  knees,  in  great 
earnestness,  seeking  the  salvation  of  his  soul,  and  he 
fell  down  upon  his  knees  by  his  side,  where  both  were 
happily  converted. 

Monday  was  the  great  day  of  the  feast.  We  had 
some  preaching,  but  most  of  the  time  was  spent  in 
prayer-meetings,  with  and  for  penitents.  Among  the 
attractions  to  spectators  was  the  talk  of  a  good  sister 
Chamberlain.  She  exhorted,  and  talked  of  religion  for 
three  hours,  in  one  incessant  flow  of  the  most  powerful 
and  convincing  eloquence.  There  was  so  much  of 
heaven  in  it,  and  in  her  looks,  that  all  who  came  within 
hearing  were  charmed  to  the  spot.  One  unconverted 
lawyer  listened  to  her  for  some  time,  when  he  turned 
away  with  tearful  e3Tes,  and  exclaimed,  "  My7  God,  who 
can  stand  that!"  While  thus  talking,  some  one  brought 
her  babe  to  her,  which  needed  some  attention,  and  she 
sat  in  a  chair  and  nursed  it,  continuing  her  talk,  as  be- 
fore. The  innocent  look  of  the  babe,  added  to  the  heav- 
enly look  of  the  mother,  seemed  to  add  to  the  purity  of 
the  scene. 

In  one  of  my  sermons  I  had  taken  particular  pains 
to  explain  and  defend  the  bodily  exercises,  of  which 
we  had  considerable  on  the  ground  ;  and  remarked  that 
I  never  knew  one  to  be  hurt  by  it,  for  certainly  if  it  be 
of  God  no  one  can  be  injured  by  it.  After  I  left  the 
stand  I  was  pointed  to  a  young  woman  who,  it  was  said, 
often  got  hurt  by  such  falling.  I  inquired  of  her  father 
if  it  were  so,  and  he  said  it  was.  "Then,"  said  I,  "tell 
her  not  to  jump  or  fall  any  more,  or  I  will  expose  her 
before  the  people,  for  it  is  her  own  doings,  and  not  of 
God,  otherwise  she  would  not  be  injured;"  and  I  saw 
or  heard  no  more  of  her  jumping,  shouting,  or  falling. 
This  was  the  only  case  of  the  kind  that  ever  came  to 
my  knowledge,  which  was  not  repeated,  so  far  as  I  ever 
knew. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  227 

At  an  early  period  of  the  meeting,  two  young  ladies 
were  awakened,  and  went  forward  for  prayers.  Their 
mother,  a  widow,  though  a  member  of  a  Church, 
rushed  in  like  a  maniac,  and  dragged  them  out,  forbid- 
ding the  repetition  of  the  act.  They  gradually  sank 
back  into  their  previous  hardened  state,  and  lost  their 
convictions.  But  before  the  meeting  closed  this  mother 
was  brought  down  upon  her  knees,  and  soundly  con- 
verted. She  then  sought  her  daughters,  and  de- 
sired them  to  go  into  the  prayer-circle,  but  they  re- 
fused. The  mother  was  now  distressed  for  them,  and 
feared  that  they  would  be  lost,  and  their  blood  would 
be  required  at  her  hands.  She  besought  them  with 
tears,  but  to  no  purpose.  After  the  meeting  closed,  on 
Tuesday,  she  requested  to  have  preaching  at  her  house, 
in  the  village,  that  night,  which  was  granted.  The  great 
ground  of  her  opposition,  at  first,  was  the  mourners1' 
bench,  but  now,  having  tested  its  utility  in  her  own 
case,  she  thought  there  was  nothing  like  it.  After  the 
preaching  at  her  house  she  stepped  up  to  Swayze,  and 
said,  "  Sir,  won't  you  please  call  up  the  mourners?"  He 
did  so;  and  she  had  the  unspeakable  happiness  of  see- 
ing her  two  daughters  come  forward,  with  others,  who 
were  happily  converted  to  God. 

The  fruit  of  this  meeting  was  said  to  be  not  less 
than  two  hundred  conversions,  besides  the  general 
quickening  of  the  membership  in  that  region. 

In  the  early  part  of  1820,  in  conversation  with  sev- 
eral preachers  on  the  great  extent  of  our  Conference 
limits,  and  the  great  distance  we  had  to  travel  in  going 
to  and  returning  from  Conference,  I  suggested  the  pro- 
priety of  a  petition  to  the  General  Conference,  to  meet 
in  May  of  that  year,  to  set  off  a  new  Conference,  to  be 
called  Pittsburg,  embracing  that  city  as  a  central  point. 
The  proposition  took  favorably,  and  at  their  request  I 
dreAV  up  one,  which  was  adopted  by  all  the  quarterly 


99} 


A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 


conferences  in  the  district,  and  sent  on.  But  as  no 
such  petitions  came  in  from  other  Conferences,  and  as 
the  Baltimore  delegates  had  not  been  instructed  on  the 
subject,  they  declined  to  act  favorably,  and  the  request 
was  not  granted.  Four  years  afterward,  however,  that 
is,  in  1824,  the  new  Conference  was  organized  as  then 
prayed  for. 

At  the  last  quarterly-meeting  conference  for  this  year 
I  was  again  recommended  to  the  Ohio  Annual  Confer- 
ence, to  be  received  on  trial  in  the  itinerancy.  The 
Conference  was  to  meet  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  and  I 
thought  it  best  to  be  on  hand,  so  as  to  be  seen  and 
known  by  the  preachers,  and  meet  objections  if  any 
should  be  made.  The  old  adage  is,  "  If  you  want  any 
thing  done,  send;  but  if  you  want  it  well  done,  go 
yourself." 

On  my  way  to  Conference  I  attended  a  camp-meet- 
ing near  Zanesville.  Jacob  Young,  the  presiding  elder, 
was  not  present,  and  the  meeting  was  managed  by 
brother  Hooper,  the  preacher  in  charge.  I  arrived  on 
Friday,  and  at  3  o'clock  on  that  day  preached  my- first 
sermon  in  that  region.  On  Sunday  at  3  o'clock  I  was 
put  up  again,  in  both  of  which  I  was  greatly  owned 
and  blessed  of  God. 

On  Sunday  I  wound  up  my  discourse  by  inviting 
mourners  into  the  altar.  This  was  soon  filled.  I  then 
called  out  to  those  still  coming  to  form  a  prayer-cir- 
cle outside  of  the  altar;  this  being  done,  and  others 
still  coming,  other  circles  were  formed,  until  nearly 
the  whole  ground  was  covered  with  them,  while  many 
were  praying  in  their  tents.  Such  a  powerful  outpour- 
ing of  the  Spirit  I  never  witnessed  before  or  since,  and 
I  have  often  thought  that  God  favored  me  then  and 
there,  that  the  report  of  it  at  Conference  might  aid  in 
my  admission. 

When  I  left  the  stand  and  went  into  the  preachers' 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  229 

tent,  quite  exhausted  from  a  two  hours'  effort,  I  found 
Father  Michael  Ellis,  then  the  oldest  member  of  the 
Ohio  Conference,  walking  back  and  forth,  wringing  his 
hands  and  groaning  in  his  peculiar  manner  when 
happy.  As  soon  as  he  saw  me  he  threw  his  arms 
round  my  neck  and  pressed  me  to  his  bosom,  and  let 
out  one  of  his  peculiar  groans  with  an  ahem,  and  said, 
"Bub,  you  beat  your  fathers." 

There  was  no  more  preaching  on  the  ground. 
Brother  Hooper  said  the  Lord  was  preaching,  and  he 
would  not  break  up  those  prayer  meetings  for  any  one 
to  preach,  not  even  the  Bishop.  There  was  no  cessa- 
tion of  prayer  and  praise  till  8  o'clock  next  morning, 
when  the  meeting  closed,  as  we  had  to  leave  for  Con- 
ference. Possibly  it'  God  had  not  thus  favorably  owned 
me,  prejudice,  unfounded  as  before,  might  have  pre- 
vailed against  me  at  Conference. 

When  I  met  Jacob  Young,  from  whom  I  received 
my  first  license  to  preach,  he  met  me  cordially,  shook  . 
my  hand  heartily,  and  said  he  was  glad  to  see  me. 
When  my  case  came  before  the  Conference  he  said  he 
should  vote  for  me  on  the  recommendation  of  brother 
Swayze,  my  presiding  elder;  but  he  feared  that  I 
should  cause  them  trouble.  This,  when  reported  to 
me,  was  a  heavy  blow.  What  was  the  reason  that  I 
must  meet  with  repulses  from  those  men  whom  I  loved 
above  all  others?  Why  should  I  be  so  unalterably  con- 
victed of  my  duty,  and  receive  such  signal  manifes- 
tations of  the  Divine  approbation  in  doing  it,  and  yet 
have  every  step  toward  it  hedged  up  or  strewed  with 
thorns  ? 

My  motives  I  knew  to  be  pure.  I  relinquished 
other  and  more  lucrative  business,  including  the  legal 
profession  which  I  had  designed  to  enter,  for  the  sake 
of  the  ministry.  If  it  could  have  been  so,  I  felt  willing 
to   have  a  pane   of  glass  in  my  breast,   that  others 


230  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

might  sec  the  purity  of  my  intentions,  and  desire  to 
do  good  to  my  fellow-men.  Why,  then,  must  I  be 
doomed  to  this  continued  and  unceasing  opposition 
from  men  whom  I  believed  to  be  aiming  at  the  same 
object?  All  this  was  involved  in  impenetrable  dark- 
ness. But  yet  it  was  some  relief  to  be  admitted  to  a 
place  in  the  itinerancy.  Brother  Young's  fears  have 
not  been  realized.  1  am  not  aware  that  1  have  caused 
any  trouble  to  the  Church,  but  hope  and  trust  that  I 
have  been  of  some  use. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

BEING  now  an  itinerant,  though  on  trial,  I  felt  the 
increased  responsibility  of  my  relation  to  the 
Church.  My  appointment  for  this  year  (1820)  was 
read  out  for  Cuyahoga  circuit,  which  lay  south  of 
Cleveland. 

On  my  way  home  from  Conference  I  spent  a  Sab- 
bath at  Zancsville.  I  went  to  church,  as  usual,  and 
Thomas  A.  Morris — now  Bishop  Morris — who  had  been 
stationed  there  for  the  two  preceding  j-ears,  preached 
his  farewell  sermon,  preparatoiy  to  going  to  his  new 
charge.  When  he  closed  he  called  on  David  Young, 
an  old  and  much -respected  minister,  who  was  super- 
annuated and  lived  in  the  place,  to  close  the  meet- 
ing. Before  leaving  the  house,  however,  brother  Mor- 
ris invited  me  to  preach  that  afternoon.  I  did  so,  but 
under  rather  depressed  feelings,  for  both  Young  and 
Morris  kept  aloof  from  the  pulpit,  and  Young,  Yankee- 
like, sat  all  the  time  in  a  slip  whittling  a  stick.  Mor- 
ris, however,  came  up  and  closed  the  service.  This 
apparent  neglect   to   a  stranger  was  noticed  by  some 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  231 

brethren,  and  spoken  of  in  my  presence  after  meeting. 
But  I  let  it  pass  as  a  part  of  the  "hard  row  I  had  to 
hoe;"  and,  on  account  of  my  youth,  etc.,  I  felt  hum- 
bled, but  felt  no  murmuring  disposition. 

In  a  few  months  from  this  I  received  a  letter  from 
brother  Morris,  stating  that  he  had  been  informed  of 
my  intention  to  prefer  charges  against  him  at  Confer- 
ence for  disrespect  or  negligence,  on  the  occasion  just 
mentioned,  and  wished  to  be  furnished  with  a  copy  of 
them  that  he  might  prepare  for  his  defense. 

This  took  me  entirely  by  surprise.  I  knew  nothing 
of  it;  I  had  no  such  design;  and  had  not  expressed  to 
any  one  any  thing  to  draw  such  an  inference  from. 
Brother  Swayze,  my  presiding  elder,  was  apprehensive 
that  some  trick  was  on  foot  to  raise  a  storm  on  me 
with  a  view  to  oust  me  from  the  itineranc}-.  This  I 
could  not  believe.  "To  the  pure  all  things  arc  pure." 
I  had  no  evil  designs  on  any  one,  and  could  not  sus- 
pect such  on  me.  Still,  from  this  incident,  coming  on 
the  heels  of  so  much  trouble,  trifling  as  it  was  in  itself, 
I  could  but  think  that  something  was  wrong  some- 
where, whatever  might  be  the  motive.  I  wrote  to 
brother  Morris  that  I  knew  nothing  about  the  matter; 
I  had  no  such  design,  nor  had  authorized  any  one  to 
use  m}'  name  in  any  such  connection.  This  ended  the 
matter.  The  only  solution  that  I  could  ever  obtain  of 
the  origin  of  this  rumor  was,  that  some  brethren  in 
Zanesvillc,  who  felt  aggrieved  at  the  apparent  coolness 
of  mj'  reception,  had  talked  of  it,  and  probably  ex- 
pressed the  opinion  that  it  ought  to  be  so,  from  which 
others  inferred  that  it  would  be  so.  But  if  even  I  had 
felt  aggrieved,  such  a  complaint  for  such  a  cause  never 
entered  into  my  views  of  propriety. 

I  went  to  my  circuit  and  partly  round  it,  when  [ 
attended  a  camp-meeting,  at  which  I  met  James  M'Ma- 
hon,  who  was  appointed  to  Mahoning  circuit,  on  which 


232  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

niy  family  lived,  while  his  family  lived  on  my  circuit, 
and  he  proposed  a  change,  as  we  should  both  be  better 
accommodated  by  it,  and  the  people  would  not  be  the 
losers.  As  the  presiding  elder  was  agreed  to  it,  the 
exchange  was  made. 

On  Mahoning  circuit  Ezra  Booth  was  appointed 
with  M'Mahon,  and,  being  my  senior  in  the  ministry, 
the  charge  was  given  to  him.  His  family  also  lived 
on  the  circuit.  The  circuit  then  included  the  most  of 
Trumbull  county,  and  part  of  Portage.  Trumbull  then 
included  what  is  now  Mahoning  county.  It  was  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  round,  having  about  thirty  ap- 
pointments, which  we  filled  in  five  weeks,  having  two 
and  three  weeks  between  our  visits.  This  was  the  cir- 
cuit to  which  I  had  belonged,  since  I  came  to  Ohio, 
till  I  was  received  into  the  Conference.  Of  course,  I 
was  as  "a  prophet  in  his  own  country;"  but  I  was  not 
aware  that  I  had  no  honor  from  the  people  on  that  ac- 
count. Indeed,  it  was  this  same  people  that  literally 
demanded  of  the  presiding  elder  (Finley)  that  I  should 
be  employed  in  the  itinerancy,  and  they  had  no  objec- 
tions to  receiving  me  as  one  of  their  preachers.  The 
plan  was  so  arranged  that  I  could  visit  my  family  once 
a  week  for  three  out  of  the  five  weeks  in  going  round. 
This  was  an  accommodation  not  before  enjoyed. 

Myself  and  colleague  worked  in  harmony,  and  wc 
enjoyed  a  good  degree  of  prosperity,  having  several 
revivals,  which  resulted  in  an  increase  of  about  one 
hundred  and  fifty  members. 

On  this  circuit  lived  Amos  Smith,  a  local  elder,  who 
was  one  of  the  fathers  of  the  circuit,  and  had  acted  the 
part  of  father  toward  me,  and  had  aided  in  procuring 
my  first  license  to  preach.  He  was,  and  had  been  for 
some  years,  confined  to  his  house  by  the  dropsy  and 
asthma,  and  for  some  time  was  confined  to  his  arm- 
chair, being  unable  to  sleep  if  he  lay  down,  day  or  night. 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  233 

Owing  to  his  inability  to  get  out  to  tbe  usual  place 
of  preaching,  in  the  society  to  which  be  belonged,  I 
made  an  extra  appointment  at  night,  at  his  house,  after 
preaching  to  the  society  in  the  day-time.  Respect  for 
the  old  father  in  Israel,  more  probably  than  a  desire 
to  hear  me,  drew  out  a  large  congregation.  But  I  was 
in  trouble,  and  experienced  what  I  never  did  before  or 
since.  The  Bible  was  a  perfectly  sealed  book  to  me, 
as  to  a  text,  except  one  passage  on  which  uncommon 
light  shone.  The  text  would  have  been  suitable  after 
his  death,  but  to  use  it  before]  appeared  to  be  inappro- 
priate. But  such  was  the  darkness  of  my  mind  to  any 
other  text  that  it  had  to  be  that  or  none. 

The  text  was  the  last  words  of  Paul  to  Timothy : 
"I  am  now  read}'  to  be  offered,  and  the  time  of  my 
departure  is  at  hand.  I  have  fought  a  good  fight,  I 
have  finished  my  course,  I  have  kept  the  faith  :  Hence- 
forth there  is  laid  up  for  me  a  crown  of  righteousness, 
which  the  Lord,  the  righteous  Judge,  shall  give  me  at 
that  day :  and  not  to  me  only,  but  unto  all  them  also 
that  love  his  appearing."  2  Tim.  iv,  6-8.  I  apologized 
for  taking  the  text,  which  seemed  so  much  like  preach- 
ing his  funeral  sermon  before  his  death,  by  stating  the 
fact  as  above  given.  I  trembled  at  the  thought.  But 
what  else  could  I  do?  The  appointment  was  made  to 
accommodate  the  good  man  ;  the  congregation  had  as- 
sembled, and  possibly  it  was  the  last  opportunity  he 
would  have  of  hearing  from  another  the  Word  of  life 
before  he  should  be  called  home,  and  I  therefore  yielded 
to  what  seemed  to  me  to  be  a  necessity. 

After  making  the  above  statement  in  reference  to 
the  text,  I  remarked  that,  after  all,  there  was  a  fitness 
in  the  subject  to  the  occasion,  onl}T  reversing  the  order, 
and  let  him  take  the  text  and  me  be  the  hearer,  for  I 
stood  in  a  relation  to  Father  Smith  somewhat  analogous 
to  that  of  Timothy  to  Paul,  as  he  had  been  a  father  to 

20 


234  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

me,  and  had  aided  me  in  getting  into  the  ministry,  etc. 
I  felt  great  freedom  in  speaking,  and  the  Divine  pres- 
ence was  powerfully  present. 

At  the  close  of  the  exercises,  as  I  was  about  to  pro- 
nounce the  benediction,  Father  Smith  requested  the 
audience  to  be  seated,  and  be  very  still,  as  he  desired 
to  say  a  few  things  to  them,  possibly  for  the  last  time 
in  this  world.  When  all  were  seated  and  silent,  he 
said : 

"With  most  of  3Tou,  my  friends,  I  have  had  many 
happy  meetings,  but  in  all  probability  this  will  be  oui* 
last  meeting  in  this  world.  Of  one  thing  I  have  been 
convinced  for  more  than  twenty-five  years,  and  that  is, 
that  the  most  dangerous  ground  a  man  can  be  on  is 
that  of  building  his  hopes  of  heaven  on  a  mere  desire 
for  religion.  You  have  that  desire,  and  who  thanks 
you  for  it?  God  gives  it  to  you,  whether  you  want 
or  not.  But  it  is  a  present  salvation  we  need.  We 
must  be  saved  from  our  sins  here,  or  we  have  no  well- 
grounded  hope  of  heaven. 

"And  now,  my  friends,  I  leave  it  as  my  last  will  and 
testament,  for  the  comfort  of  my  family  and  friends, 
that  I  would  not  give  what  I  now  feel  in  my  soul,  my 
present  peace,  and  future  prospects,  for  a  thousand  such 
worlds  as  this.  If  it  please  God  that  I  get  well,  I  am 
content;  if  it  please  him  that  I  linger  along  for  three  or 
four  years,  I  am  resigned;  and  if  it  please  him  that  I 
die  now,  amen  to  it,  his  will  be  done." 

As  this  was  spoken  he  dropped  his  head  over  on  to 
the  back  of  his  chair  and  died  without  a  sigh  or  groan; 
there  was  no  motion  save  simply  the  breath  leaving  the 
body. 

The  congregation  were  awed  into  silence,  as  a  mat- 
ter of  course,  and  no  one  stirred  till  he  was  gone,  when 
one  of  his  daughters  came  up,  and  taking  hold  of  his 
hand,    exclaimed :  "  O,    he    has    often   prayed    that   he 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  235 

might  die  in  meeting  with  his  brethren,  and  now  his 
prayer  has  been  answered." 

His  remarks  on  the  necessity  of  &  present  salvation, 
and  not  to  build  our  hopes  of  heaven  on  a  mere  desire 
for  it,  I  thought  were  intended  for  a  neighbor  of  his, 
who  was  there,  and  in  just  that  state  of  mind,  and  who 
Avas  killed  at  a  raising  two  weeks  after;  so  that  this  was 
probably  the  last  warning  he  had  upon  that  subject. 

On  this  circuit  also  lived  Dr.  Shadrach  Bostwick, 
who  was  also  a  father  to  me,  and  to  all  young  preachers 
who  traveled  the  circuit.  He  was,  in  fact,  a  professor 
and  teacher  in  our  "Brush  College,"  and  his  house  was  a 
theological  school,  where  he  gave  many  lectures  and 
model  sermons,  from  which  we  obtained  much  useful 
knowledge  pertaining  to  our  holy  calling.  As  I  have 
seen  no  memoir  of  him,  it  is  proper  that  something 
should  be  said  of  him,  to  rescue  his  name  from  oblivion. 

He  was  born,  as  near  as  I  can  ascertain,  in  1772,  in 
the  State  of  Maryland,  and  was  designed  and  educated 
for  the  medical  profession.  He  was  converted  when 
young,  and  entered  the  itinerancy  in  1791,  when  but 
nineteen  years  of  age.  He  traveled  in  Maryland,  New 
Jersey,  New  York,  New  England,  and  Ohio,  in  all  four- 
teen years. '  He  was  a  presiding  elder  in  New  -York 
and  New  England  four  years,  when  he  married,  and  as 
there  was  no  competent  provision  then  for  married 
men,  necessity  compelled  him  to  accept  the  offer  of  his 
wife's  father  of  some  wild  lands  in  Ohio,  on  the  West- 
ern Beserve,  and  in  1803  we  find  him  a  missionary,  so 
called — tout  without  any  missionary  society,  or  funds 
for  the  support  of  such  men — on  Deerfield  circuit, 
where  he  first  settled. 

This  removal  brought  him  within  the  limits  of  the 
Baltimore  Conference,  which  then  extended  to  Lake 
Erie,  in  which  he  commenced  to  travel,  and  to  which  he 
was  transferred.     But  such  was   the  distance  and   the 


236  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

difficulty  of  traveling  through  such  a  vast  wilderness, 
that  he  never  saw  a  presiding  elder,  nor  attended  Con- 
ference for  the  two  years  that  he  continued  in  this 
relation.  Being  compelled  to  provide  for  himself  and 
family,  he  wrote  to  the  Conference  for  a  location,  and 
was  so  returned  on  the  Minutes  in  1805. 

While  on  this  mission  circuit  it  was  impossible  to 
travel  far  in  Winter  from  the  want  of  roads  and  bridges. 
As  the  little  class  in  Deerfield  were  not  able  to  support 
him,  and  his  farm  not  being  yet  productive,  lie  taught 
school  in  the  Winter,  and  traveled  as  far  as  he  could 
in  the  Summer,  mean  time  prosecuting  his  medical 
studies. 

Previous  to  his  entering  the  itinerancy  he  had  made 
some  proficiency  in  the  science  of  medicine,  and  while 
traveling  he  had  also  read  considerable  upon  the  sub- 
ject, not  knowing  but  that  necessity  might  some  day 
compel  him  to  fall  back  upon  his  own  resources.  Being 
now  in  that  circumstance,  he  made  the  best  prepara- 
tion he  could — having  to  go  to  Pittsburg,  ninety  miles, 
on  horseback  for  medicine — and  entered  upon  the 
practice.  He  soon  after  moved  to  Canfield  as  offering  a 
better  field  to  practice  in,  and  became  quite  eminent  as 
a  physician,  and  accumulated  a  handsome  fortune. 

His  house  was  ever  open  to  the  itinerant,  and  his 
purse  ever  open  liberally  for  his  support.  As  a  local 
preacher  he  had  his  regular  round  of  appointments,  to 
visit  each  once  in  four  weeks,  with  the  understanding 
that  if  sickness  or  professional  calls  prevented  his 
attendance,  he  would  be  there  the  next  four  weeks.  He 
would  always  meet  the  preachers  at  their  week-day  ap- 
pointments, when  in  his  neighborhood,  unless  prevented 
by  sickness  or  professional  calls,  and  was  very  punctual 
in  his  attendance  at  the  quarterly-meetings,  of  which, 
for  man}'  years,  he  was  recording  steward,  and  he  was 
the  Mentor  of  the  circuit. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  237 

• 

He  was  for  some  time  without  a  class  at  the  place  of 
his  residence;  but  finally  a  large  society  was  raised  up 
there,  and  a  fine  brick  church  was  built  upon  land  do- 
nated by  him,  and  much  aided  by  his  funds.  He  died 
since  I  came  to  Wisconsin,  but  I  learn  that  his  end  was 
peaceful  and  triumphant. 

As  a  preacher  Dr.  Bostwick  stood  in  the  highest 
rank.  He  was  not  what  in  these  times  is  called  a 
topical  or  fashionable  one;  that  is,  taking  a  text  and 
discussing  one  topic,  whether  in  the  text  or  not:  but  he 
was  a  textual  preacher ;  he  took  a  text  and  explained  it. 
In  this  he  was  a  model  preacher.  He  was  expected  to 
and  usually  did  preach  once  at  every  quarterly-meeting 
or  camp-meeting  he  attended,  and  always  to  the 
edification  of  the  people. 

He  was  of  very  pleasing  personal  appearance,  gen- 
tlemanly in  his  deportment,  highly  intelligent,  full  of 
interesting  anecdote,  very  communicative  to  all,  but 
especially  so  to  young  preachers,  whom  he  took  particu- 
lar pains  and  pleasure  in  assisting  to  qualify  for  their 
high  and  holy  calling.  His  lectures  by  his  fireside,  his 
illustrative  anecdotes,  and  analysis  of  knotty  Script- 
ure questions  were  equal  to  the  lectures  of  modern 
theological  schools. 

His  training  for  the  ministry  was  at  a  time  and  in 
an  age  when  some  people  thought  that  Methodist 
preachers  were  a  kind  of  outlaws,  whom  an}'  one  had  a 
right  to  attack,  ridicule,  or  even  annihilate  in  argument 
if  he  could.  Almost  all  the  preaching  of  his  day  was 
of  a  controversial  character.  Criticisms  were  full}'  in- 
dulged in,  and  little  attention  was  paid  to  genteel  or 
courteous  disputation.  As  a  matter  of  course,  and  a 
natural  consequence,  the  constant  rubbing  Methodist 
preachers  got  upon  the  edge  made  them  sharp  in  that 
part,  and  whoever  came  in  contact  with  them,  usually 
got  badly  cut.     But  as  Bostwick  excelled  in  repartee,  a 


238  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

few  anecdotes  will  not  only  illustrate  his  character  in 
this  particular,  but  also  that  part  of  our  early  history 
as  a  Church. 

From  Rev.  W.  Swayze,  who  followed  Bostwick  in 
some  of  his  New  England  fields  of  labor,  I  learned  the 
following : 

While  Bostwick  was  presiding  elder,  he  happened 
to  come  athwart  a  Doctor  of  Divinity  on  this  wise: 
This  D.  D.  bad,  a  short  time  before,  taken  one  of  oiu* 
members  to  task  for  suffering  tbese  ignorant  Methodist 
preachers  to  preach  in  his  house. 

"Why,"  said  the  brother,  "what  harm  is  there  in 
so  doing,  if  they  can  get  sinners  converted  to  God,  and 
reform  their  lives?" 

"Harm  !"  said  the  D.  D.,  "  why,  harm  enough  ;  do  n't 
you  know  that  they  are  ignorant  and  unlearned? 
They  do  not  even  understand  English  grammar,  and 
much  less  the  dead  languages,  and  how  can  they  teach 
people  the  way  to  heaven  ?" 

"Why,  Doctor,  is  the  way  to  heaven  through  the 
dead  languages,  or  through  the  Bible?" 

"The  Bible,  of  course;  but  they  must  know  the 
dead  languages  to  understand  that  book." 

"But  did  not  the  translators  of  the  Bible  under- 
stand those  languages,  and  have  they  not  given  us  their 
true  meaning?" 

"Why,  yes,  I  suppose  so." 

"  Well,  if  we  can  read  the  English  Bible,  do  we  not 
read  the  truth,  then?" 

"Why,  yes;  but  ice  deem  it  necessary  for  men  to  be 
college  bred  to  be  fit  to  preach." 

"Well,  Doctor,  have  you  ever  heard  a  Methodist 
preacher?" 

"No;  nor  do  I  want  to.  I  have  heard  enough 
about  them." 

"Well,  but,  Doctor,  does  our  law  condemn  a  man 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  239 

before  it  hears  him?  Would  it  not  be  fair  to  hear  a 
man  before  you  pass  sentence  on  him?" 

This  was  a  poser  for  the  Doctor,  and  he  admitted 
that  it  would  be  but  just  to  do  so. 

"Well,  Doctor,  I  expect  one  to  preach  at  my  house 
on  such  a  day,  and  at  such  an  hour,"  naming  them, 
"  and  I  would  be  glad  to  see  you  present."  To  which 
he  agreed. 

"But,  Doctor,  I  must  inform  you  that  the  preacher 
is  a  young  man;  this  is  his  first  year,  and  we  call  him 
one  of  our  boys.  You,  of  course,  will  not  expect  as 
much  from  him  as  from  an  older  head." 

"No;"  said  the  Doctor,  "I  can  make  allowance  for 
the  youth  and  inexperience  of  a  man." 

From  this,  word  got  out  that  Dr.  S.  was  going  to 
hear  the  Methodist  preacher,  and  the  people  thought 
they  might  go,  also,  without  sinning  any  more  than 
their  pastor  did.  It  was  expected  that  the  learned 
Doctor  would  use  up  the  ignorant  preacher  in  short 
order ;  so,  a  crowd  came  out  to  hear  and  see  the  fun. 

But  it  so  happened  that  Bostwick,  on  his  way  round 
his  district,  called  at  the  place  just  before  the  preaching 
hour,  and  as  he  was  the  presiding  elder,  he  must 
preach.  But  it  did  not  occur  to  them  to  inform  him 
of  the  expected  audience,  not  knowing  certainly  that 
it  would  be  on  hand.  But  they  came.  Nor  did  it 
occur  to  the  good  brother  to  inform  Dr.  S.  of  the 
change  in  preachers,  leaving  him  under  the  impression 
that  it  was  the  boy  who  preached. 

The  discourse  was  an  able  one,  containing  no  dis- 
putable doctrines ;  and  being  such,  and  extemporaneous 
at  that,  a  very  favorable  impression  was  made  on  the 
minds  of  the  audience.  This  Dr.  S.  thought  he  must 
efface,  or  he  should  lose  ground  with  his  peojole.  So 
he  hung  on  after  the  meeting  was  closed,  and  the 
brother    introduced    him    to    brother    Bostwick,    with 


240  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

whom  he  immediately  commenced  a  conversation  upon 
English  grammar. 

Bostwick  suspected  the  object,  and  being  an  able 
scholar,  met  the  inquisitive  Doctor  on  his  own  selected 
field,  where  he  soon  shoived  his  skill  and  knowledge  of 
his  mother  tongue. 

The  Doctor  failing  on  this  point,  turned  off  upon 
Latin  and  Greek.  Of  these  Bostwick  had  some  knowl- 
edge, perhaps  as  much  as  the  Doctor  himself — for  but 
few  of  such  braggarts  are  good  scholars — and  here  he 
failed  again,  and  showed  signs  of  leaving. 

But  Bostwick  being  wide  awake  to  such  attacks, 
launched  off  upon  the  Hebrew  as  being  the  mother  of 
languages,  and  also  quoted  some  German  and  French, 
of  which  he  had  some  little  knowledge,  obtained  by 
mingling  with  those  people.  Knowing  that  the  Doctor 
was  entirely  at  sea,  without  chart  or  compass,  when  he 
left  the  Latin  and  Greek;  and  knowing,  too,  from  past 
experience,  the  design  of  the  attack,  he  indulged  in  a 
little  play  upon  these  last  three  languages,  though  not 
master  of  them.  The  Doctor  finding  himself  outdone, 
suddenly  left,  and  was  followed  by  his  flock,  all  badly 
chagrined  at  the  defeat. 

But  the  people  who  followed  the  Doctor,  soon  began 
to  inquire  what  he  thought  of  the  Methodist  preacher? 
"Think!"  said  he,  "I  don't  know  what  to  think.  I 
always  supposed  that  these  Methodist  preachers  were 
ignorant  men ;  not  even  understanding  the  English 
language.  But  this  man  knows  it  all,  and  is  even 
ahead  of  me,  for  he  has  the  Hebrew,  German,  and 
French  at  his  tongue's  end,  as  well  as  the  Greek  and 
Latin.  He  is  certainly  a  good  speaker,  and  an  able 
divine,  and  he  preached,  too,  without  notes,  and  with 
as  much  precision  as  if  it  had  all  been  written  out 
before  him.  I  never  saw  such  a  man;  and  what  sur- 
prises me  still  more  is,  this  is  what  they  call  one  of 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  241 

their  boys,  in  the  first  year  of  his  ministry.  If  this 
is  one  of  their  boys,  I  don't  know  what  their  men 
must  be." 

Of  course,  after  that,  the  people  in  that  neighbor- 
hood thought  it  would  be  safe  for  them  to  hear  the 
Methodist  preachers,  and  the  result  was,  many  of  them 
were  converted  to  God,  and  saved,  who  might,  other- 
wise, have  been  lost. 

I  was  once  conversing  with  brother  Bostwick 
about  being  sometimes  embarrassed  in  preaching,  or  in 
preachers'  parlance,  "getting  into  the  brush."  And  to 
encourage  me,  he  said,  "I  once  went  to  an  appoint- 
ment in  New  Jersey;  it  was  on  my  first  visit  to  the 
place,  and  I  was  so  embarrassed  that  I  really  thought 
the  people  would  never  come  out  to  hear  me  again.  If 
it  had  been  possible,  without  neglect  of  duty,  I  should 
not  have  gone  there  again.  But  it  was  on  the  plan  of 
the  circuit,  and  there  was  a  class  at  the  place  to  which 
I  must  attend;  so  I  went  the  second  time  with  fear 
and  trembling.  Just  before  meeting  time  a  stranger 
came  in  and  said,  'How  do  you  do,  brother  Bostwick? 
I  suppose  you  don't  know  me;  I  was  not  a  brother 
when  you  were  here  before;  but  under  your  preaching 
I  was  awakened,  and  have  since  found  peace  with  God, 
and  am  now  one  of  you.' 

"I thought,"  said  Bostwick,  "if  God  would  bless  such 
preaching,  I  would  never  complain  again  of  being  em- 
barrassed, but  do  the  best  I  could,  and  leave  conse- 
quences with  God.  This  little  incident,"  he  continued, 
"has  been  of  great  benefit  to  me  through  life."  And 
so  it  has  to  me,  in  like  circumstances. 

I  have  said  that  Doctor  Bostwick  was  in  the  habit 
of  meeting  the  preachers  at  their  week-day  appoint- 
ments, when  possible  for  him  to  do  so.  On  one  occa- 
sion he  met  John  Solomon,  who  of  all  men  that  I  ever 
heard  attempt  to  preach,  had  the  least  ability  to  do  so. 

21 


242  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

How  he  ever  got  admitted  on  trial,  even,  was  a  mys- 
tery, but  he  was  soon  permitted  to  return  home. 

On  this  occasion,  a  Presbyterian  minister  attended, 
also.  On  leaving  the  place  they  rode  together,  and  the 
Presbyterian  began  to  question  the  propriety  of  allow- 
ing such  men  to  occupy  the  sacred  desk.  The  Doctor 
thought  as  he  did,  but  feeling  a  little  denominational 
-pride,  and  knowing  the  harping  then  common  upon  the 
pretended  ignorance  of  Methodist  preachers,  did  not 
like  to  yield  to  his  Presbyterian  brother  all  he  asked; 
so  after  admitting  that  Solomon  had  but  small  preach- 
ing abilities,  he  urged  in  extenuation  of  his  being  sent 
out  as  a  preacher,  that  "we  don't  always  know  the 
designs  of  God  in  these  things.  Paul  says  that  God 
has  chosen  the  weak  things  of  this  world  to  confound 
the  wise.  And  God  once  used  the  dumb  ass  to  reprove 
an  erring  Prophet,  and  a  cock  to  reprove  an  erring 
Apostle.  And  I  do  not  know  but  he  may  see  fit  to  use 
such  men  to  save  souls." 

"Ah,"  said  the   other,  "  those   were   miracles   which 
Ave  are  not  to  look  for  in  this  age  of  the  world." 

"True;  but  I  have  known  some  cases  almost  as 
singular  in  our  day.  AYhen  I  traveled  in  New  Jer- 
sey," said  the  Doctor,  "I  knew  a  man  who  was  awak- 
ened by  the  crowing  of  a  black  hen,  very  much  like 
the  case  of  Peter." 

"Ah!     How  was  that?" 

"  Why,  the  man  was  a  Dutchman  ;  his  wife  and 
daughters  were  pious  and  belonged  to  the  Church,  but 
he  was  hostile  to  their  religion,  and  sought  every  op- 
portunity to  persecute  and  afflict  them.  When,  on  Sun- 
day, they  got  ready  to  go  to  meeting,  he  would  chop 
wood  at  the  door,  or  hoe  in  the  garden,  and  continue 
at  it  as  long  as  people  were  going  by  to  meeting.  One 
Sunday,  when  he  was  thus  hoeing  in  his  garden,  a 
black  hen   mounted  the  fence,  flopped  her  wings,  and 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSOX.  243 

crowed.  The  Dutch  believe,  in  such  a  case,  that  they 
must  kill  the  hen.  or  some  one  will  die  in  the  family.  He 
tried  to  kill  her,  but  she  evaded  him;  yet  he  kept  on 
his  hoeing,  and  soon  she  came  and  crowed  again,  and 
still  evaded  his  chase;  and  so  the  third  time,  but  still 
she  escaped  from  him.  He  then  concluded  that  he 
must  die,  and  as  he  was  so  wicked  must  go  to  hell. 

"He  threw  down  his  hoe,  changed  his  clothes,  and 
went  to  meeting.  His  wife  and  daughters  seeing  him 
come  there,  thought  he  intended  to  extend  his  perse- 
cution even  to  the  house  of  God,  and  feared  that  he 
would  disturb  the  meeting.  But  he  sat  still  and  list- 
ened attentively,  and  remained  after  preaching  in  the 
class-meeting,  and  when  spoken  to  as  to  the  state  of 
his  mind  as  to  religion,  he  rose  and  said:  'I  is  one 
great  sinner.  I  have  persecuted  mine  wile  and  daugh- 
ters because  they  wanted  to  be  good.  I  have  chopped 
wood  and  hoed  in  the  garden  on  Sunday,  just  to  spite 
them  and  other  good  folks  when  going  by  to  meeting ; 
and  to-day  when  I  was  hoeing,  a  great  black  hen  did 
get  on  the  fence,  and  flop  her  wings  and  crow  three 
times,  and  I  could  not  catch  her  to  kill  her.  And  now, 
by  sure,  I  shall  die,  and  the  devil  will  have  me,  be- 
cause I  is  so  wicked,  and  I  does  want  you  to  pray  for 
me.'  They  did  so,  and  soon  after  he  obtained  forgive- 
ness from  God.  When  in  after  years  he  related  his 
Christian  experience,  he  would  always  say  that  he 
thanked  God  he  ever  heard  a  hen  crow." 

The  Doctor  continued  :  "I  knew  a  case  in  New  En- 
gland, in  which  a  young  man  was  awakened  by  the 
bellowing  of  a  bull,  much  like  the  case  of  Balaam." 

"Ah!  and  how  was  that?" 

"  Why,  a  young  man  was  hired  to  a  Quaker  to  work. 
He  had  been  out  one  night  to  a  late  hour,  to  some  sin- 
ful amusement,  and  on  his  way  home  heard  a  bull 
bellowing  along  the  street  after  him.     He  thought  it 


244  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

was  the  devil  going  about  like  a  roaring  lion,  seeking 
whom  he  might  devour,  and  his  guilty  conscience  led 
him  to  think  that  he  was  the  object  of  the  devil's  pur- 
suit, and  took  to  his  heels  for  home  as  fast  as  possible. 

"He  reached  his  chamber  and  got  into  bed,  but  the 
bull  came  nearer  and  nearer,  till  in  front  of  the  house, 
and  between  the  house  and  the  barn-yard,  where  the 
cows  were  herded  for  the  night,  he  made  a  halt  and 
began  to  paw  up  the  ground,  and  bellow  louder  than 
before,  and  such  was  the  effect  upon  the  air  that  the 
windows  of  the  house  jarred  and  rattled  from  its  vi- 
brations. Upon  this,  the  young  man  thought  he  was 
coming  into  the  window  to  take  him  off,  whereupon 
he  cried  to  God  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  to  have  mercy 
on  him.  This  roused  up  the  Quaker,  who  ran  to  the  foot 
of  the  stairs  and  called  out,  'Elijah,  what  ails  thee?' 
Elijah,  afraid  to  tell  the  truth  in  the  case,  said  he  had 
'the  belly-ache.' 

"Upon  this  the  Quaker  hustled  round,  kindled  a 
fire,  and  made  a  quart  of  sage-tea  and  gave  him.  While 
the  Quaker  was  near  Elijah  made  less  ado,  and  when 
the  bull  retired  he  settled  down  into  quietness.  But  he 
was  wiser  than  some  are,  after  such  a  fright,  for  he 
sought  and  obtained  the  pardon  of  his  sins. 

"  In  this  case,"  said  the  Doctor,  "  God  spake  through 
the  bellowing  of  a  bull,  as  he  did  to  Balaam  through 
the  ass;  and  I  dare  not  limit  the  Almighty,  for  he  may 
speak  through  a  man  of  small  talents."  This  was 
rather  reluctantly  admitted,  and  the  point  yielded. 

The  Doctor  told  me  that  some  years  after  he  came 
to  Ohio  a  Congregationalist  from  Massachusetts  came 
athwart  him,  who  made  so  many  contemptuous  allu- 
sions to  the  Methodists,  claiming  the  superiority  of  the 
"Standing  Order"  over  other  Christians,  that  he  (the 
Doctor)  felt  moved  to  reply,  or  answer  "a  fool  accord- 
ing to  his  folly." 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  2-45 

This  man,  among  other  things,  inquired  of  the  Doc- 
tor, "Did  you  not  once  travel  in  Massachusetts?" 

"Yes,  sir." 

"Well,  were  you  acquainted  with  David  B.  in  A?'' 

"Yes,  sir,  I  knew  him  very  well." 

"Well,  sir,  he  has  left  your  Church  and  joined  ours, 
and  we  have  licensed  him  to  preach." 

"Ah,"  said  the  Doctor,  "I  am  very  glad  of  that. 
He  used  to  trouble  us  a  great  deal  about  preaching,  but 
we  thought  that  he  had  neither  gifts  nor  other  qualifica- 
tions for  it.  If  he  answers  your  purpose,  I  am  very 
glad,  and  hope  he  is  suited,  and  will  trouble  us  no 
more."  Upon  this  the  man  found  it  convenient  to  take 
a  sudden  leave. 

I  was  once  in  conversation  with  him  upon  the  im- 
propriety of  placing  metaphors,  parables,  etc.,  "  upon 
all  fours ;"  that  is,  making  every  thing  in  them  have 
a  bearing,  and  a  specific  meaning,  when  he  related  the 
following  incident: 

A  preacher  on  the  circuit,  calling  on  him  for  a 
night  and  wishing  to  avail  himself  of  the  opportunity 
to  gain  some  information  from  the  Doctor,  stated  that 
he  was  preparing  a  sermon  on  the  text,  "and  they 
gathered  114)  twelve  baskets  full,"  etc. ;  that  he  had 
found  ten  doctrines,  answering  to  ten  of  the  baskets, 
and  wished  the  Doctor  to  furnish  him  with  two  more 
baskets  to  complete  the  number. 

The  Doctor  desired  to  know  the  contents  of  the  ten 
baskets  already  filled,  which  were  stated.  Not  meeting 
his  views  of  interpreting  Scripture,  he  turned  to  his 
daughter  and  inquired,  "Havn't  we  got  some  old  bas- 
kets up  in  the  garret?  Brother  Y.  wants  a  couple  to 
help  him  make  out  his  sermon."  The  daughter  know- 
ing the  wit  of  her  father  in  such  cases,  and,  withal, 
being  ready  to  humor  the  joke,  replied  in  the  affirm- 
ative, and  expressed  her  readiness  to  produce  them  at 


246  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

once,  if  desired.     This  finished  the  basket  sermon — it 
was  never  preached. 

In  June,  1821,  brother  Swayze,  the  presiding  elder, 
desired  me  to  attend  a  camp-meeting  in  Geneva,  Ash- 
tabula county,  Ohio ;  stating  that  "  something  must  be 
done  for  that  circuit,  or  our  ship  there  would  be 
stranded." 

I  had  an  idea  that  the  country  was  quite  new;  that 
our  accommodations  would  be  poor ;  and,  probably,  we 
should  have  to  sleep  on  the  ground,  and  among  the 
leaves,  and  I  dressed  myself  in  an  old  suit,  suitable,  as 
I  thought,  to  the  occasion.  How  I  got  this  idea  I  do 
not  know,  but  I  found  it  a  great  mistake.  It  was  too 
late  to  change  my  garb.  I  had  also  had  the  quinsy  in 
the  Spring,  and  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Wesley's 
family  adviser  and  primitive  physic,  I  had  not  worn  a 
cravat  for  six  weeks,  and  being  much  exposed  to  the 
sun  and  storms,  I.  was  considerably  "  browned  "  in  the 
face  and  neck.  All  this,  with  a  long  beard,  gave  me 
rather  a  rough,  farmer-like  appearance,  no  ways  pre- 
posessing. 

On  Friday  morning  an  old  backslidden  Methodist, 
whom  Swayze  had  known  in  Massachusetts,  and  invited 
to  attend  this  meeting,  seeing  me  on  the  stand,  thought, 
as  he  told  me  afterward,  that  I  could  n't  be  a  preacher ; 
and  when  I  sung  a  favorite  song  of  Zion,  he  concluded 
that  Swayze  had  got  me  on  to  the  stand  to  lead  in 
singing.  When  he  saw  me  up  to  preach  at  11  o'clock, 
he  thought  if  I  was  a  preacher,  I  must  be  a  local  one, 
some  farmer,  a-nd  that  he  would  go  then  and  take  care 
of  his  horses. 

But  it  occurred  to  him  that,  probably,  it  would  be 
the  only  time  I  should  be  put  up,  and  as  he  wished  to 
hear  all  the  preachers  on  the  ground,  he  would  stay  and 
hear  me.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  man,  then,  but  before 
I  was  half  done  he  concluded  that  Swayze  had  told  me 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.        -  247 

all  about  him,  and  had  got  me  there  on  purpose  to 
preach  to  him. 

In  winding  up  this  discourse  I  invited  mourners  into 
the  altar,  and  sprang  over  the  book-board  on  to  the 
ground.  As  I  lit  upon  the  ground  a  young  man  fell 
into  the  lap  of  a  Presbyterian  deacon,  who  turned  pale, 
and  moving  to  one  side,  let  the  young  man  roll  off  on  to 
the  ground.  Several  others  fell,  who  were  brought  in 
by  their  friends,  and  others  came  of  their  own  accord, 
and  among  them  my  friend  of  the  horses.  He  con- 
fessed his  sins  and  backslid ings,  and  was  restored  to 
the  peace  and  favor  of  God.  He  went  at  once  to 
Swayze,  and  said,  "If  you  will  send  that  man  to  the 
circuit  I  will  attend  meeting,  and  pay  my  quarterage." 
I  was  sent  there  the  ensuing  year,  and  he,  brother 
"Winchell,  furnished  me  with  a  house,  all  my  fire-wood, 
pasture  for  my  horse  and  cow,  in  Summer,  and  barn, 
hay  and  grain  for  them,  in  Winter ;  with  meat,  flour, 
and  vegetables  for  1113-  family,  and  paid  some  twenty 
dollars  in  money;  but,  as  his  wife  and  two  daughters 
were  converted,  he  felt  amply  paid  for  all  he  had  done 
for  me. 

At  this  camp-meeting  there  was  a  very  large  gath- 
ering of  people  of  all  descriptions,  from  the  surrounding 
country,  and  a  very  general  awakening,  with  many 
powerful  conversions,  amounting,  in  all,  to  probably 
two  hundred;  and  among  them  a  noted  infidel,  by  the 
name  of  Parker.  He  came,  as  such  men  usually  do,  out 
of  curiosity,  and  for  the  purposes  of  criticism ;  but  an 
arrow  from  the  Almighty's  quiver  reached  his  heart, 
and  he  fled,  like  the  stricken  deer,  to  his  home,  in  Ash- 
tabula Village ;  but,  after  a  sleepless  night,  on  Monday 
morning,  and  with  little  or  no  breakfast,  he  repaired  to 
the  ground,  as  if  attracted  by  some  invisible  power, 
which  his  wounded  spirit  did  not  feel  disposed  to  resist. 
He  was  soon  upon  his  knees,  in  a  prayer-circle,  in  deep 


248  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

penitence,  where  he  continued,  except  when  listening 
to  preaching,  all  that  day  and  the  ensuing  night,  groan- 
ing, praying,  and  wrestling,  like  Jacob.  Those  of  his 
acquaintance  who  were  religious,  knowing  his  former 
wickedness,  and  mockery  of  religion,  felt  a  strong  solic- 
itude for  his  conversion,  not  only  for  his  own  sake,  but 
for  the  cause  of  Christianity  in  general,  and  literally 
"stuck  to  him  closer  than  a  brother,"  instructing  him, 
and  praying  for  him. 

Whether  he  took  any  refreshment,  or  not,  I  am  un- 
able to  say;  but  if  he  did,  it  must  have  been  at  long 
intervals,  and  but  little  at  a  time.  In  the  course  of  the 
night  a  shower  had  wet  the  ground,  which  had  been 
tramped  into  mud,  in  places,  and  especially  in  the 
prayer-circles,  some  two  or  three  inches  deep;  but  such 
was  the  earnestness  of  both  penitents  and  those  who 
were  wrestling  with  them,  that  this  mud  was  not  heeded. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  while  the  meeting  was  break- 
ing up,  and  the  tents  being  struck,  he  was  yet  on  his 
knees,  in  the  mud,  resolved  not  to  leave  the  spot  until 
he  found  peace  with  God.  A  few  faithful  ones  were 
still  with  him.  At  this  moment  a  doctor  of  medicine,  a 
member  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  whose  prejudices 
had  prevented  him  from  attending  before,  lest  he  should 
sin  against  God,  now  came  upon  the  ground,  not  to  wor- 
ship God,  but  to  see  and  hear  enough,  as  he  thought,  to 
find  arguments  against  such  meetings,  anticipating  a 
rich  harvest  of  arguments.  But,  on  seeing  Parker  on 
his  knees,  he  was  not  only  surprised,  but,  knowing  his 
former  character,  and  presuming  that  he  was  now  mock- 
ing, instead  of  praying,  he  felt  his  indignation  rise,  for, 
much  as  he  was  prejudiced  against  the  Methodists  and 
the  camp-meeting,  he  could  not  endure  such  mockery, 
as  he  supposed  it  to  be.  Under  the  impulse  of  such 
feelings,  he  stepped  up  to  Parker,  and  with  some  stern- 
ness said,  "Parker,  what  are  you  doing  here?"     Parker^ 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  249 

knowing  the  voice,  and  that  he  was  a  professor  of  re- 
ligion, and  forgetting  all  distinctions,  in  his  deep  dis- 
tress, raised  his  head,  and  said,  "  O,  doctor,  for  God's 
sake,  pray  for  me,  for  if  I  do  n't  obtain  mercy,  I  shall 
be  in  hell  before  night!" 

This  took  the  doctor  all  aback.  It  was  what  he  had 
not  expected.  Parker's  sunken  eyes,  and  ghastly  look, 
showed  that  he  was  in  earnest;  he  wTas  the  life-picture 
of  despair  and  deep  anguish  of  soul.  Instantly  the 
doctor's  better  feelings  took  the  ascendency,  and  he  fell 
upon  his  knees  in  the  mud,  by  the  side  of  Parker,  and, 
amid  his  tears,  poured  out  his  soul  to  God  in  fervent 
prayer  in  behalf  of  the  penitent  infidel,  in  true  Meth- 
odistic  strains;  and  declared,  afterward,  that  if  camp- 
meetings  were  the  means  of  converting  such  men  as 
Parker,  he  would  never  oppose  them  again. 

But  poor  Parker  was  yet  in  distress;  some  barrier, 
some  secret  bosom  sin,  was  in  the  way.  The  tents  were 
all  down,  the  wagons  loaded,  and  ready  to  start,  some 
having  gone,  and  one  after  another  reluctantly  left  him, 
to  go  home,  till  but  two  or  three  were  left  with  the  poor 
penitent.  At  length  these  were  called  to  go  with  their 
company,  who  were  waiting,  and  the  poor  man  was 
about  to  be  left  alone,  and  to  stay  alone,  for  he  was  re- 
solved not  to  leave  the  spot  unpardoned,  when  one 
thought  of  the  possible  difficulty,  and  inquired: 

"Parker,  do  you  forgive  all  your  enemies,  as  you 
hope  to  be  forgiven  ?'* 

"Yes,  I  think  I  do." 

"But  you  must,  from  the  heart,  forgive  all  those  who 
have  trespassed  against  you,  or  who  you  think  have  done 
so,  or  God  will  not  forgive  you." 

"Well,  I  think  I  do;  I  am  willing  to  forgive  every 
body,  for  I  know  that  I  am  the  greatest  sinner  in  the 
world,  and  need  forgiveness  more  than  all  the  rest." 

It  occurred  to  the  speaker,  just  then,  that  an  old,  and 


250  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

long-continued  quarrel  had  existed  between  Parker  and 
Judge  Q.,  against  whom  Parker  had  evinced  a  more 
deadly  hatred  than  against  any  other  man;  and  the 
inquiry  was  made,  "Can  you,  and  do  you,  forgive 
Judge  Q.  ?" 

He  thought  a  moment,  and  said,  "Yes,  I  can  ;  I  do 
forgive  Judge  Q.  Glory  to  God  !"  and  springing  to 
his  feet,  shouted,  "Yes,  T  do  forgive  Judge  Q. ;  and, 
glory  to  God,  He  has  forgiven  me  I" 

Parker  lived  many  years,  a  good  and  faithful  witness 
for  Christ;  and,  as  I  was  informed,  died  as  he  had  lived, 
since  his  conversion,  at  peace  with  God  and  man. 

The  results  of  this  meeting,  as  I  have  said,  were, 
probably,  two  hundred  conversions  on  the  ground;  but 
this  was  not  all  ;  revivals  followed  in  the  country,  and 
into  other  Churches.  The  Presbyterian  Church  nearest 
the  ground  was  said  to  have  received  of  these  converts 
about  one  hundred.  Whatever  they  think,  or  formerly 
thought  of  camp-meeting,  and  Methodistic  conversions, 
I  never  knew  them  to  refuse  one  who  offered  to  join 
them.  This,  no  doubt,  is  one  great,  if  not  the  greatest, 
reason  for  their  increase  of  spirituality,  and  more  liberal 
feelings  toward  the  Methodists  than  existed  half  a  cen- 
tury ago. 

Soon  after  the  above  camp-meeting,  we  had  one  on 
our  own  circuit.  Though  it  did  not  result  so  gloriously 
as  the  other,  yet  it  was  the  means  of  much  good.  There 
were  some  incidents  connected  with  it  illustrative  of  the 
times,  and  of  human  nature,  worthy  of  record. 

The  meeting  was  held  in  Vernon,  Trumbull  county, 
Ohio.  A  few  nights  before  it  was  to  commence,  a 
neighbor  of  mine,  who  wTas  half-drunk  at  the  time,  but 
who,  drunk  or  sober,  had  some  regard  for  our  civil  and 
religious  rights,  called  at  my  house,  and  said  that  he 
had  just  come  from  "the  burg,"  a  place  near  the  camp- 
ground, and  had  learned  that  some  two  hundred  young 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  251 

men  had  plotted  a  rowdy  scrape  at  the  camp-meet- 
ing, and  had  chosen  two  brothers,  with  whom  I  was  ac- 
quainted, to  be  their  captains;  that  they  had  resolved 
to  break  up  the  meeting,  and,  in  case  of  arrest,  to  stick 
by.  each  other,  and  fight  it  out.  I  thanked  him  for  the 
information,  and  took  measures  to  prevent  the  intended 
interruption. 

I  was  early  upon  the  ground,  though  brother  Booth 
had  charge  of  the  circuit,  on  whom  it  properly  devolved 
to  keep  order,  yet,  he  was  of  such  a  temperament  that 
he  would  allow  rowdies  to  run  over  him  and  his  charge. 
Of  course,  if  there  was  any  fighting  to  be  done,  that  fell 
upon  me ;  and,  knowing  my  temperament,  he,  and  the 
people,  expected  me  to  do  it,  and  then  take  the  conse- 
quences afterward,  in  their  fears  that  I  would  "ride  over 
them,  as  I  did  the  rowdies." 

Soon  after  reaching  the  ground,  1  met  with  J.  R. 
Giddings,  Esq.,  who  was  afterward  so  distinguished  in 
Congress,  and  also  Esquire  Cone,  a  neighboring  Justice 
of  the  Peace,  who  both  told  me  that  they  had  heard  of 
the  conspiracy,  and  had  come  purposely  thus  early  to 
assist  us  in  keeping  order,  and,  if  need  be,  apply  the 
law  in  its  severest  form. 

On  Saturday  I  saw  the  rowdies  gathering,  and  spoke 
to  one  of  the  captain  brothers  on  this  wise:  "I  am 
told  that  a  set  of  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser  sort,  who 
have  neither  character  nor  breeding,  are  coming  here 
to  disturb  us.  We  have  Giddings  and  Cone  to  assist 
us  in  enforcing  the  law.  Such  disturbance  is  not  only 
contrary  to  law,  but  is  very  wrong  and  ungentlemanly 
in  itself.  I  want  to  get  a  few  men  w7ho  have  a  respect 
for  religion  and  civil  rights  to  render  us  some  assist- 
ance; and  I  have  thought,  from  my  acquaintance  with 
you,  that  you  would  do  so." 

"Yes,"  he  said,  he  would  do  any  thing  he  could 
to  assist  us,  and  asked  if  we  wanted  him  for  a  guard. 


252  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"No,"  said  I,  "I  will  not  trouble  you  for  that,  but 
wish  you  simply  to  keep  an  eye  out,  and  if  you  see  or 
hear  them  contriving  mischief,  show  3-our  disapproba- 
tion by  reproving  them;  and  if  they  do  not  desist, 
give  me  their  names,  and  I  will  have  them  fined,  and 
then  I  will  publish  their  names  in  the  newspaper." 

To  this  he  agreed.  I  then  inquired  for  his  brother, 
whom  he  sent  to  me,  and  who  also  agreed  to  assist  us 
in  the  same  way.  I  found  several  others  who  enlisted 
in  the  same  good  cause.  I  had  already  got  several 
names  of  persons  who,  on  coming  on  to  the  ground, 
had  shown  signs  of  rowdyism,  of  which  I  informed  my 
men.  Probably  in  less  than  two  hours  every  rowdy 
on  the  ground  knew  of  my  purpose,  and  was  warned 
to  behave,  or  to  take  the  consequences. 

Among  the  names  given  me  there  was  a  mistake  in 
one  name.  The  fellow  was  one  of  the  gang,  but  was 
not  yet  on  the  ground ;  but,  as  soon  as  he  did  appear, 
he  was  informed  of  my  purpose,  and  that  his  name  was 
already  taken.  This  gave  him  such  umbrage  that  he 
left  at  once,  and  was  not  seen  there  again. 

There  were  upon  the  ground  four  young  gentlemen, 
sons  of  New  England  land  speculators,  who  had  given 
them  a  little  recreation  in  the  vacation  of  College,  in 
a  trip  to  their  New  Connecticut  lands.  They  did  not 
belong  to  the  gang  of  which  I  have  spoken,  though 
they  were  not  long  in  forming  some  of  their  ac- 
quaintances, and  soon  heard  of  my  threats  if  any  one 
disturbed  us. 

I  saw  these  young  men,  was  pleased  with  their  gen- 
teel deportment,  and  asked  Mr.  Giddings  who  they 
were,  etc.,  but  not  because  I  suspected  them  as  belong- 
ing to  the  gang.  In  the  night  I  saw  them  with  others 
go  repeatedly  out  of  one  corner  of  the  encampment 
into  the  woods,  and  soon  return  in  rather  merry  mood. 
I  mistrusted  that  there  was  whiskv  somewhere  not  far 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  253 

off,  and  I  placed  a  man  in  that  corner,  with  instruc- 
tions that  when  he  saw  a  company  go  out,  to  follow 
them  at  a  short  distance,  and  when  they  stopped,  to 
get  behind  a  tree,  mark  the  stopping-place,  and  when 
they  returned  to  go  to  the  spot,  and  most  likely  he 
would  find  whisky,  and  if  he  did  to  bring  it  to  me, 
with  whatever  he  found  it  in. 

In  about  half  an  hour  he  brought  me  a  tin  pail, 
half  full  of  "  the  critter,"  and  very  shortly  after  this 
a  manifest  uneasiness  was  seen  among  that  crowd,  for 
they  were  well  aware  that  1  had  got  it,  and  they  were 
detected,  and  feared  the  fine  and  publication. 

In  the  morning,  when  the  congregation  was  called 
together,  I  advertised  the  pail,  stating  the  contents; 
that  it  was  found  in  the  woods;  and  that  the  owner 
might  have  it  by  giving  his  name.  If  no  owner  came 
for  it  the  contents  would  be  poured  out  on  the  ground, 
and  the  pail  left  with  some  one,  where  the  owner  might 
find  it  in  accordance  with  one  of  our  regulations  as  to 
found  property.  As  no  one  came  to  claim  it,  I  emptied 
the  liquor  on  the  ground  before  the  congregation.  In 
a  short  time  after,  a  neighbor  came  and  said  that  these 
3'oung  men  borrowed  the  pail,  as  they  said,  to  carry 
milk  to  the  camp-ground,  and  promised  to  return  it 
the  next  morning;  he  supposed  that  they  belonged  to 
some  of  the  tents. 

By  this  time  the  young  men  took  sudden  leave,  and 
I  learned  afterward  that  they  were  very  uneasy  lest 
their  names  should  get  into  the  newspapers,  as  having 
behaved  very  bad  at  a  camp-meeting,  and  thus  reach 
the  eyes  or  ears  of  their  parents  at  home.  They  suf- 
fered more  from  this  fear  than  they  would  from  a  fine, 
and  even  imprisonment,  if  they  could  have  kept  it 
from  their  parents.  But  we  succeeded  in  preserving 
good  order,  defeating  the  rowdies,  and  having  some 
fifty  conversions. 


254  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

THIS  year  (1821)  was  the  second  year  of  brother 
Swayze's  presiding  on  the  district,  which  embraced 
the  Western  Reserve,  east  of  the  Cuyahoga.  The  dif- 
ference in  the  success  and  spread  of  Methodism — and, 
as  other  denominations  profited  greatly  from  our  suc- 
cess, 1  may  say  of  Christianity  general  1}T — was  so  great 
from  those  of  former  times,  that  I  can  but  notice  it. 

Previous  to  his  coming  among  ns,  our  presiding 
elders,  and  most  of  our  preachers,  were  from  the  South 
and  West,  whose  minds  were  very  much  prejudiced 
against  the  Yankees,  and  frequently  their  treatment 
of  our  people  savored  so  much  of  their  superiorit}-  of 
feeling  as  to  prevent  their  doing  much  good.  Some  of 
them  seemed  to  view  the  Yankees  as  semi -barbarians — 
a  kind  of  half  heathen.  They  would  reach  the  circuit 
just  a  little  before  their  first  quarterly-meeting,  and 
leave  it  soon  after  their  fourth  one,  so  that  we  were 
frequently  from  two  to  three  months  without  preaching 
in  the  year. 

In  1819,  when  Bishop  George  spent  most  of  the 
Summer  in  Ohio,  he  became  acquainted  with  this  state 
of  things,  and,  to  remedy  the  evil,  appointed  William 
Swayze  to  the  district,  who  moved  his  family  to  Deer- 
field,  a  central  point  in  it.  This  kept  him  within  the 
district,  and  his  leisure  time  was  spent  among  the  Yan- 
kees, he  being  a  kind  of  naturalized  one,  because  he 
had  traveled  in  New  England  and  had  a  Yankee  wife. 

In  the  mean  time,  James  M'Mahon,  though  a  Ken- 
tuckian,  had  married,  and  had  his  family  on  the  Re- 
serve. Ira  Eddy  and  Ezra  Booth,  who  were  Yankees, 
had   married,   and   located   their   families   in   the  same 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  255 

region ;  and  when  I  was  admitted  among  them  I  made 
the  fourth  married  man  on  the  Reserve.  We.  of  course, 
stayed  on  our  charges  as  long  as  possible,  so  as  by  hard 
traveling  to  reach  Conference  in  time;  and  we  returned 
home  from  Conference  as  fast  as  our  horses  could  con- 
vey us,  often  at  the  rate  of  from  forty  to  fifty  miles  a 
day.  The  consequence  was,  that  only  from  three  to 
four  weeks  were  lost  in  Conference  time,  instead  of  so 
many  months.  We  also  had  a  deeper  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  the  people  among  whom  we  lived,  than  we 
could  have  had  in  mere  strangers ;  as  a  natural  conse- 
quence, we  had  greater  and  more  extensive  revivals; 
and  the  people  seemed  to  have  more  confidence  in  us, 
as  we  were  of  themselves,  and  the  work  of  God  pros- 
pered more  extensively. 

The  Ohio  Conference,  to  which  we  belonged,  met 
this  year  (1821)  in  Lebanon,  from  which  I  was  appoint- 
ed to  Grand  River  circuit,  with  Henry  Knapp,  a  very 
promising  young  man  for  my  junior  colleague.  I 
moved  my  family  to  Concord,  into  a  house  of  my  old 
friend  of  the  Geneva  camp-meeting,  of  whom  I  have 
already  spoken. 

The  circuit  lay  in  Ashtabula,  Geauga,  and  Trumbull 
counties,  and  had  forty-four  appointments  to  be  filled 
in  four  weeks,  being  about  two  hundred  miles  round 
it.  We  fixed  the  plan  so  as  to  meet  at  my  house  once 
in  two  weeks.  It  was  but  a  log-cabin,  but  was  such  as 
most  of  the  people  in  the  country  lived  in,  and  of  course 
we  were  satisfied.  We  had  three  quarterly-meetings 
and  one  camp  meeting,  at  all  of  which  the  presiding 
elder  was  present ;  and  besides  these,  we  held  four  two- 
days'  meetings,  and  one  watch-night.  One  object  we 
had  in  holding  so  many  extra  meetings  was  to  promote 
the  interests  of  religion  in  the  people,  and  to  accustom 
them  to  alter  work — to  talk  to  and  pray  with  and  for 
penitents.     We  were   so  owned  and    blessed    of  God, 


256  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

that  our  increase,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  amounted  to 
about  three  hundred  souls. 

In  the  Spring  of  1822  I  had  an  attack  of  bilious 
fever,  in  which  I  thought  and  expected  I  should  die. 
My  first  thought  was,  "  Shall  I  have  the  benefit,  in  dying, 
of  that  religion  I  have  been  preaching  to  others?"  I 
felt  that  I  should.  It  seemed  as  if  there  was  but  a  thin 
veil  between  me  and  heaven,  into  which  I  expected  to 
enter  within  three  hours.  The  next  thought  and  care 
was  for  my  family,  what  would  become  of  them?  But 
this  text  struck  me  with  great  force,  "Leave  thy 
widows  and  fatherless  children  with  me,"  and  my  mind 
was  instantly  free  from  all  care  and  anxiety  on  that 
score.  I  never  was  happier,  and  presume  that  when 
death  does  come  I  shall  not  realize  it  any  more  than  1 
did  on  that  occasion.  But  the  fever  turned,  and  I  got 
well,  and  am  still  in  a  world  of  toil  and  care. 

In  Ashtabula  we  preached  in  a  ball-room  from  the 
want  of  a  better  place.  The  owner  was  under  convic- 
tion of  sin.  and  as  the  idea  of  Calvin's  horrible  decrees 
was  yet  lingering  in  some  minds,  and  especially  in  his, 
he  fell  into  despair,  thinking  that  he  was  a  reprobate 
from  all  eternity;  but  we  succeeded  in  preaching  him 
out  of  this,  and  then  he  concluded  that  he  had  sinned 
away  his  day  of  grace,  and  consequently  there  was  no 
mercy  for  him.  Under  these  reflections  he  fell  into  the 
most  gloom}7  state  of  mind,  and  his  friends  began  to 
fear  that  he  would  commit  suicide,  and  kept  a  constant 
watch  over  him.  His  argument  in  justification  of  such 
an  act  was  that  the  sooner  he  was  dead  and  in  hell,  the 
less  sin  he  would  have  to  be  punished  for. 

After  preaching  one  night  I  sat  up  with  him, 
together  with  his  wife  and  wife's  sister,  till  two  o'clock, 
arguing  and  explaining  the  promises  of  God  to  return- 
ing penitents;  but  all  seemed  to  be  of  no  avail.  At 
length   I  asked  him  :  "  Do  you   believe  that  any  good 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  257 

desire,  or  a  desire  to  be  saved,  can  possibly  come  from  the 
devil?" 

He  thought  a  moment  and  said,  "Xo." 

"Well,  do  you  believe  that  our  fallen  nature  could 
suggest  or  give  such  a  desire?" 

He  thought  again  and  said,  "No." 

"Well,  now,  there  is  but  one  other  source  from 
which  such  desire  can  possibly  come — that  is,  from  God  ; 
for  there  are  but  these  three  sources  for  any  thoughts  or 
desires  of  the  kind." 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "  that  looks  reasonable." 

"Well,  have  you  not  such  desires?  Do  you  not 
desire  to  be  saved  from  sin,  to  be  pardoned,  and  be  at 
peace  with  God?" 

"  Yes,  I  certainly  have." 

"Well,  you  admit  that  you  could  not  obtain  or 
receive  such  desires  from  the  devil,  nor  from  your 
fallen  nature,  and  that,  therefore,  they  must  come  from 
God?  The  fact  that  you  have  such  desires  is  an  infal- 
lible evidence  that  God  has  not  forsaken  you.  There 
can  not  possibly  be  any  mistake  in  this.  You  have  the 
desire,  and  God  alone  could  give  it  to  you,  and  therefore 
he  has  not  forsaken  you.  He  would  not  mock  you  by 
giving  such  a  desire  if  he  was  not  willing  to  pardon  and 
save  you." 

'•  Why,  yes,  it  seems  so." 

"Well,  now,  you  may  believe  that  for  the  sake  of 
Christ  he  will  do  so,  and  do  it  now.  There  is  no  merit 
in  your  sorrow  or  repentance  for  sin;  you  can  not  pur- 
chase a  pardon  by  it.  It  is  only  by  faith  in  the  merits 
of  Christ  that  you  can  obtain  forgiveness.  He  has  said 
that  the  'broken  in  heart,  and  the  contrite  in  spirit  he 
will  in  no  wise  turn  away;'  and  he  says,  further, 
'Come  unto  me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden, 
and  T  will  give  you  rest.'  His  word  is  sufficient,  he 
can  not  lie;  and  what  he  has  promised  he  will  do  when 

22 


258  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

we  comply  with  the  condition  upon  which  he  promises 
to  do  it — that  is,  come  to  him  with  a  broken  heart  and  a 
contrite  spirit.  This  he  can  and  will  do  in  a  moment, 
if  you  will  but  believe  and  rely  upon  him." 

At  this  he  sat  a  moment  in  deep  reflection,  myself? 
his  wife,  and  sister-in-law  watching  the  effect  upon  him. 
His  countenance  changed  back  and  forth,  indicating  a 
gleam  of  hope,  and  then  returning  despair,  but  hope 
seemed  to  predominate.  At  length  he  arose  and  went 
into  the  wood-shed.  I  never  shall  forget  the  anxious 
looks  of  his  wife  and  sister-in-law  as  their  eyes  followed 
him  out  of  the  room,  and  then  the  gloom  that  settled 
down  upon  them,  indicating  their  fears  that  he  had 
gone  out  to  commit  suicide.  I  confess  I  had  some  fears 
myself  that  this  was  his  object;  but  reflecting  upon  his 
answers,  hope  revived,  and  a  glimmer  of  faith  crossed 
my  mind,  and  I  spoke  some  words  of  cheer  to  the 
ladies,  which  seemed  to  relieve  them. 

He  was  out,  perhaps,  five  minutes,  though  it  seemed 
much  longer,  when  he  came  in  smiling.  "  There,"  said 
I,  "you  have  been  pra}7ing,  and  God  has  blessed  you. 
I  see  it  in  your  countenance,  and  feel  it  in  my  soul." 

"Yes,"  said  he,  "  I  do  feel  better.  The  great  burden 
of  guilt  has  been  removed ;  but  I  am  not  as  happy  as 
I  have  seen  some  in  such  cases." 

"  Well,  you  must  believe  and  confess  what  he  has 
done  for  you ;  and  if  you  do  so  the  evidence  will  come." 

"Well,  I  will  try;  I  feel  better  already."  And  he 
continued  to  improve  till  he  was  as  happy  as  any  of  us. 

There  was  a  singular  ease  in  this  class,  which  shows 
the  good  effects  of  religion  on  domestic  relations.  A 
man  and  his  wife  quarreled,  and  he  left  her  and  one  or 
two  children,  and  went  to  Indiana,  where  he  stayed  seven 
years,  giving  her  no  intelligence  of  his  whereabouts. 
But  the  Good  Spirit  reached  his  heart  in  a  revival  of 
religion,   and   he   sought   and   found   peace  with    God. 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  259 

While  under  conviction  his  greatest  sin  appeared  to  be 
that  of  leaving  his  family  as  he  did,  and  he  promised 
God,  if  he  would  forgive  him,  that  he  would  return  to 
them ;  and  he  did  so.  His  return  under  such  circum- 
stances, and  for  such  a  reason,  had  the  effect  to  awaken 
her  to  a  sense  of  her  lost  condition,  and  she  also  re- 
pented and  found  peace;  and  when  I  saw  them  the}' 
were  living  happily  together. 

Our  camp-meeting  this  year  came  off  in  May,  1822, 
on  brother  Winchell's  farm,  in  Concord.  This  good 
brother,  of  whom  I  have  spoken,  furnished  the  ground 
and  most  of  the  pasture  for  the  cattle  and  horses,  by 
turning  into  his  meadow.  He  also  kept  the  preachers' 
horses  on  hay  and  grain,  had  a  large  tent  on  the 
ground,  and  fed  and  lodged  a  large  number  of  visitants. 
The  meeting  was  a  good  one,  and  near  one  hundred 
souls  were  converted,  besides  reclaiming  and  quickening 
the  Clmrch  generally. 

The  old  cry  was  raised  that  "Father  Winchell 
would  be  eaten  out  of  house  and  home."  One  man,  a 
fiddler  by  trade,  and  a  whisky  drinker  by  practice,  see- 
ing our  horses  in  the  stable,  said  to  him:  "Father 
Winchell,  I  should  think  }~our  hay  and  grain  would  get 
scarce,  you  have  so  many  horses  to  keep," 

"No,"  said  the  good  brother,  "hay  and  grain  will 
never  give  out  as  long  as  I  feed  the  preachers'  horses. 
Do  you  see  there?  I  have  enough  to  bring  me  through 
till  after  harvest,  and  then  the  Lord  will  give  me 
enough  more  for  another  year.  If  you  would  feed  the 
preachers'  horses  you  would  n't  have  to  come  to  me  ever}r 
Spring  to  get  hay  to  save  your  cow  from  starving." 

"But  there's  your  meadow,  all  eat  down  by  the 
cattle  and  horses  that  come  to  camp-meeting,  so  that 
you  can  't  have  half  a  crop  of  hay  this  season." 

"Never  fear.  The  Lord  will  make  the  grass  grow; 
and  I  shall  have  enough  and  to  spare.     Why,  I  went 


260  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

through  the  meadow  to-day,  and  the  grass  don't  look 
a  bit  shorter  than  it  did  when  the}'  were  first  turned  in. 
The  Lord  makes  the  grass  grow  as  fast  as  it  is  eaten  off." 

When  he  and  his  boys  were  gathering  in  the  hay  on 
this  meadow  I  went  into  it  to  see  them.  Father  Win- 
chell  said  to  me,  "See  here,  brother  Brunson,  see  what 
the  Lord  has  done  for  us  for  having  camp-meeting 
here.  We  never  had  such  crops  before.  Last  year  we 
got  all,  both  ha}7  and  grain,  into  our  two  barns;  but 
this  year,  from  the  same  ground,  we  have  both  barns 
full,  and  that  half  dozen  stacks,  and  here  is  this  to  stack 
also.  I  told  'em  there  was  no  fear,  that  if  we  had 
camp-meeting  here  we  should  have  crop  enough,  if  we 
did  pasture  the  meadow,  and  you  see  it  is  so." 

One  of  his  sons,  who  stood  leaning  upon  his  rake- 
stale  listening  to  the  conversation,  as  if  wearied  with 
toil — as  he  really  was — said,  smilingly,  "If  this  is  the 
result  of  the  camp-meeting,  I  don't  want  another  here 
this  year,  for  I  am  almost  dead  from  gathering  what 
we  7ioic  have." 

Our  Conference  met  this  year  (1822)  in  Marietta. 
My  two  years  of  probation  had  expired,  and  I  went 
through  the  ordeal  of  an  examination  before  the  com- 
mittee, of  which  Dr.  M.  Enter  was  chairman.  Then  the 
rule  required  but  one  examination,  and  that  at  the  end  of 
the  two  years'  probation.  He  put  me  through  "the  flint 
mill."  as  it  was  called,  as  I  thought  pretty  thoroughly, 
and,  as  1  was  informed,  made  a  favorable  report.  The 
fear  and  dread  of  "the  mill"  embarrassed  me  consider- 
ably, so  that  I  could  not  think  or  speak  as  readily  as  at 
other  times;  but  I  was  admitted  into  full  connection, 
and  being  a  deacon,  was  elected  and  ordained  an  elder 
by  Bishop  George. 

At  every  stage  of  my  gradation,  from  joining  the 
Church,  being  licensed  to  exhort,  to  preach,  being  or- 
dained deacon,  being  received  on  trial,  admitted  to  full 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  261 

connection,  and  now  ordained  an  elder,  I  felt  the  respon- 
sibilities of  my  relation  to  the  Church  to  increase 
accordingly,  and  consequently  the  duty  to  demean  my- 
self in  accordance  therewith,  as  I  should  account  to 
God  at  the  day  of  judgment. 

My  appointment  this  year  was  Detroit,  in  Michigan 
Territory,  with  Samuel  Baker  for  junior  colleague.  In 
going  home,  I,  with  some  others,  traveled  up  the  Ohio 
River  from  Marietta  to  Wellsville.  The  river  was  ex- 
tremely low,  so  much  so  that  we  forded  it  in  one  place. 
And  we  saw  men  engaged  on  some  of  the  bars  with 
large  plows,  and  long  heavy  teams  of  horses,  plowing 
up  the  gravel,  to  loosen  it,  so  that  the  current  might 
move  it  off  into  deeper  water,  and  thus  deepen  the 
channel,  for  the  passage  of  boats. 

This  was  also  the  year  of  the  migration  of  the  gray 
and  black  squirrels.  From  whence  they  came,  or  where 
going,  no  one  could  tell,  but  their  number  was  legion. 
On  the  Ohio  side  of  the  river  the  farmers  were  obliged 
to  cut  up  and  shock  their  corn,  and  then  guard  it  with 
guns  and  clubs,  to  save  it  from  general  destruction. 

These  little  emigrants,  traveling  from  north  to 
south,  or  north-west  to  south-east,  were  somewhat 
troubled  in  crossing  the  river.  This  was  one  reason 
why  they  accumulated  to  such  an  army  on  the  north 
bank  of  it,  and  made  them  so  destructive  to  the  corn 
there.  Their  knowledge  of  the  river  was  not  sufficient 
to  enable  them  to  select  the  narrowest  places  at  which 
to  cross,  nor  were  their  limbs  sufficiently  long  to  enable 
them  to  ford  the  stream  on  the  bars;  but  wherever 
they  reached  it,  there  they  swam  it. 

Their  mode  was  to  climb  a  tree,  the  limbs  of  which 
hung  over  the  water,  and  going  out  on  to  the  most  ex- 
tended limbs,  would  jump  off  into  the  water  and  swim 
for  the  opposite  or  south  shore.  We  at  one  time 
counted  fifty-twTo  of  them  in  sight  at  once. 


262  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

On  the  south  shore  of  the  river  we  saw  men  and 
boys,  with  horses  and  wagons,  who  stood  at  the  water's 
edge ;  and  as  the  little  swimmers  came  near  the  shore, 
much  exhausted,  they  would  touch  them  with  a  stick 
or  pole,  to  which  they  would  cling  with  a  death  grip, 
when  they  were  submerged  till  drowned.  If  no  one 
stood  ready  to  take  them  in  this  way  as  they  reached 
the  shore,  they  wTould  crawl  out  on  to  a  stone  or  log,  as 
if  nearly  dead,  and  remain  there  till  they  were  dry,  and 
rested,  before  moving  further.  Many  of  them  were 
killed  by  sticks  and  clubs  after  landing,  being  too 
weak  to  get  out  of  the  wTay.  It  was  said  that  hun- 
dreds of  loads,  both  of  horses  and  of  wagons,  were  thus 
taken  and  carried  back  into  the  country. 

On  reaching  home,  I  made  arrangements  for  mov- 
ing to  Detroit.  A  land  voyage  was  out  of  the  question. 
There  was  no  steam-boat  then  on  Lake  Erie,  which  I 
must  cross,  and  go  up  one  hundred  and  sixty  miles.  The 
only  chance  was  to  catch  some  sail  craft  on  its  upward 
trip.  1  soon  found  one  of  twrenty-three  tons,  going  to 
the  Detroit  Eiver  on  a  fishing  voyage,  it  being  the  season 
for  taking  the  white  fish.  She  belonged  to  Ashtabula, 
was  schooner  rigged,  with  a  fore-topsail.  Thirty-two 
souls  wrere  on  board,  including  my  family,  which  now 
numbered  seven.  We  had  no  ballast  or  loading,  except 
a  few  barrels  of  salt,  some  provisions,  and  a  lot  of  empt}- 
barrels.  I  could  not  ship  my  horse,  for  fear  of  foul 
weather  at  that  season,  October,  and  had  to  sell  him. 

On  our  upward  course,  off  from  Cleveland,  and  near 
the  middle  of  the  lake,  and  nearly  out  of  sight  of  land, 
while  sailing  under  a  pleasant  breeze,  we  wTere  struck 
by  a  squall,  which  endangered  all  on  board.  The  crew 
and  fishermen  passengers  were  on  the  quarter-deck,  in 
high  glee,  drinking  whisky,  singing  songs,  and  telling 
yarns,  and  did  not  see  the  cloud  coming  up  from  the 
w7est,  and  nearly  dead  ahead. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  263 

At  this  critical  moment  I  happened  to  go  on  deck 
for  something,  and  looking  up  saw  the  black  cloud  over 
the  foretop  mast-head,  and  seeing  at  once  the  danger 
we  were  in,  sung  out  to  the  captain,  inquiring  if  it 
was  not  time  to  take  in  sail.  He  on  looking  up  said, 
"Yes,  I  think  it  is;"  and  he  and  another  one  ran  up 
the  shrouds  like  squirrels,  to  furl  the  foretop-sail.  But 
hearing  the  roar  of  the  wind  coming  down  to  him,  he 
sung  out,  "Let  run  every  rag  of  sail."  I  was  near  the 
mainmast  and  let  the  mainsail  run  as  it  would,  and 
fall  in  or  out  of  the  water,  and  the  other  sails  were  also 
let  run  in  the  same  way,  and  they  had  hardly  got  down 
before  the  gale  struck  us.  In  two  minutes  more,  if  the 
sails  had  been  up,  the  vessel  must  have  been  capsized, 
and  all  on  board  must  have  perished. 

I  had,  previous  to  this,  taken  the  helm  and  steered 
the  vessel,  and  given  some  other  evidence  of  nautical 
skill,  from  my  boyhood  experience.  They  had  all 
heard  me  preach  before  coming  on  board;  but  now 
the  question  arose  among  them  whether  I  was  the 
better  preacher  or  sailor,  for  they  felt  assured  that 
but  for  me  we  should,  most  probably,  all  have  found  a 
watery  grave  that  night. 

The  vessel  rolled  and  tossed  in  the  swell  at  a  fear- 
ful rate,  and  every  green  one,  including  my  wife  and 
all  the  children,  except  the  one  at  the  breast,  were  sea- 
sick, and  casting  up  their  accounts  with  Neptune.  The 
mainsail  was  put  into  a  balance  reef,  which  brought 
the  head  of  the  vessel  quartering  to  the  wind,  where 
she  rode  easier  through  the  night.  But  the  wind  con- 
tinuing the  next  day  to  blow  fresh  down  the  lake,  the 
vessel  was  run  down  to  Grand  Eiver,  from  whence  we 
started,  where  we  lay  three  days  and  nights,  wind-bound. 

As  soon  as  the  gale  abated,  and  the  land  breeze 
sprang  up  at  night,  we  made  sail,  hugging  the 
south  shore  of  the  lake,  so  as  to  keep  within  range  of 


264  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  land  breeze,  and  at  the  same  time  have  a  smootli 
sea.  The  next  day  we  reached  Portland,  now  San- 
dusky City,  on  Sandusky  Bay.  That  night,  taking  the 
land  breeze  again,  we  sailed,  and  the  next  day  reached 
Detroit. 

I  had  written  to  the  steward  and  leader  to  procure 
me  a  house.  But  as  our  people  never  had  had  a  mar- 
ried preacher  there,  he  dared  not  do  more  than  to 
inquire  where  one  could  be  had.  I  had  to  do  the  rent- 
ing, and  pay  for  it  myself. 

As  soon  as  I  landed,  I  went  to  the  leader  and  stew- 
ard, and  found  him  at  dinner,  and  being  invited,  ate  with 
him.  He  then  invited  me  to  bring  my  family  to  his 
house,  while  we  procured  a  home  for  ourselves  and 
moved  up  the  goods.  This  was  accomplished  about 
sundown.  But  though  all  things  were  in  heaps,  and 
nothing  in  place,  m}^  wife  proposed  to  get  some  supper, 
saying  that  neither  she  nor  the  children  had  eaten  a 
bite  since  breakfast,  on  the  vessel. 

I  supposed,  of  course,  that  dinner  had  been  set 
before  them  while  I  was  moving.  On  hearing  this,  I 
thought  if  this  was  a  specimen  of  the  treatment  I  was 
to  receive,  I  must  fare  hard,  indeed,  and  my  heart  sunk 
within  me.  Never  before  nor  since  was  I  so  completely 
overcome.  It  was  so  unexpected,  that  before  I  had  time 
to  rally,  I  had,  in  the  language  of  Scripture,  "  no  more 
spirit  in  me." 

My  wife  saw  this  in  my  sunken  countenance,  and 
though  she  felt  bad,  and  hungry  enough  to  weep,  she 
thought  that  it  would  not  do  for  both  of  us  to  be  down 
at  the  same  time,  so  she  rallied  and  cheered  me  up, 
saying,  "Never  mind;  we'll  soon  get  something  to  eat, 
and  get  along  somehow;  and  things  may  be  more 
favorable  hereafter."  As  my  bad  feelings  were  more 
on  her  and  the  children's  account  than  my  own,  it 
relieved  me  greatly  to  see  her  thus  cheerful.     If  I  had 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  265 

been  the  only  sufferer,  I  should  have  held  up  in  as 
much  cheerfulness  as  possible;  but  to  see  loved  ones 
thus  suffer,  and  that  too  in  accompanying  me  in  the 
ministry,  was  what  so  deeply  affected  me. 

Our  goods  were  just  thrown  into  the  house,  and 
nothing  yet  in  place.  We  had  carried  some  provisions 
with  us,  and  had  procured  some  wood,  and  soon  had  a 
fire  and  supper;  and  then,  being  weary,  worshiped 
God,  spread  our  beds  on  the  floor,  and  lay  down  to 
rest. 

The  cold  reception  my  family  met  with,  soon  leaked 
out.  The  steward  himself  being  out  with  me  did  not 
know  that  my  family  had  no  dinner.  His  wife  was  not 
a  Methodist,  and  had  not  the  interest  she  had  in  us 
before  the  year  was  out;  and  not  feeling  well,  she 
neglected  the  courtesies  due  to  strangers,  and  especially 
the  family  of  her  husband's  minister.  But  a  thousand 
apologies  and  regrets  were  afterward  made,  not  only 
by  the  good  brother  himself,  but  by  his  wife,  and  by 
others,  several  of  whom  would  have  fed  me  and  my 
family  if  they  had  known  the  state  of  the  case. 

Why  I  was  sent  to  Detroit,  with  such  a  family,  a 
place  so  far  out  of  the  world,  and  with  so  little  pros- 
pect of  a  support,  was  always  a  mystery.  There  were 
but  fourteen  members  in  the  city,  and  but  one  hundred 
and  thirty  on  the  whole  circuit,  which  covered  the 
entire  settled  portion  of  the  Territory  and  the  Maumee 
settlement  in  Ohio.  There  were  young  and  single  men 
who  could  have  gone  to  that  circuit  much  better  than 
I  could.  The  reader  will  recollect  the  opposition  I  had 
met  with  from  two  prominent  presiding  elders,  whose 
fears  were  that  I  would  be  unmanageable;  and  I  have 
thought  that  this  appointment  was  made  to  try  me, 
and  decide  whether  I  would  obey  the  appointing  power. 
If  so,  they  must  have  become  satisfied,  as  no  such  very 
strange  appointment  was  given  me  afterward. 

23 


266  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  house  I  rented  had  been  occupied  by  the  Indian 
blacksmith,  his  shop  answering  for  a  stable.  My  wife 
had  feared  that  she  would  be  afraid  of  the  Indians,  and 
especially  when  I  should  not  be  at  home.  But  she 
soon  got  bravely  over  it.  The  Indians  not  knowing  of 
the  death  of  their  blacksmith,  came  to  the  shop  to  get 
work  done.  But  finding  no  smith,  they  came  to  the 
house,  or  to  the  door,  to  inquire  for  him,  when  my  wife 
by  the  best  signs  she  could  make,  informed  them  of 
his  death.  Upon  this  they  would  stej)  back  in  appar- 
ent deep  distress,  and  sit  on  the  wood-pile  before  the 
door,  at  a  loss  to  know  what  to  do.  She,  seeing  their 
distress,  and  that  they  showed  no  disposition  to  molest 
her  or  the  children,  soon  felt  her  sympathies  for  them 
roused  up,  and  gave  them  food.  This  they  received 
with  so  much  apparent  gratitude,  that  she  soon  became 
attached  to  them,  and  they  recijn'ocated  her  feelings, 
and  made  presents  of  brooms,  baskets,  and  bowls, 
wrought  out  of  ash  knots,  one  of  which  I  yet  have, 
fifty  years  after  receiving  it. 

One  family,  in  particular,  composed  of  a  man,  his 
wife,  and  a  son  about  ten  years  old,  became  constant 
visitants ;  and  my  wife  asked  for  the  boy  to  educate, 
which  they  agreed  to,  "  when  so  high,"  holding  the  hand 
to  where  he  would  probably  grow  in  two  years.  The 
Indian's  mode  of  entering  a  house  is  not  by  the  usual 
sign  of  knocking,  to  ask  admittance,  but  by  lifting  the 
latch  and  entering  without  further  ceremony.  After 
this  promise,  whenever  they  came  in,  the  boy  was 
thrust  in  before  them.     • 

In  the  ensuing  Spring,  as  I  was  passing  the  market- 
house,  I  saw  this  Indian  most  vehemently  kicking  and 
scolding  his  wife,  as  she  lay  dead  drunk  on  the  ground ; 
and  taking  her  by  her  long  hair,  twisted  her  head 
round,  till  I  feared  her  neck  would  be  broken,  so  as  to 
get  her  face  toward  me,  and  then  pointing  toward  me, 


REV.  ALFRED    BRUNSON.  267 

jabbered  away  in  Indian,  from  all  which  I  discovered 
that  when  he  saw  me  coming,  he  tried  to  get  her  out 
of  the  way,  so  that  I  should  not  see  her  in  that  drunken 
plight.  The  fact  was,  he  had  learned  my  profession  and 
knew  that  I  disapproved  of  drinking ;  and  feeling  under 
obligations  for  our  repeated  favors,  which  he  feared 
would  be  denied  if  I  saw  her  drunk,  he  wanted  to  get 
her  out  of  the  way. 

As  it  was — from  shame  it  probably  was,  and  from 
fear  that  they  would  get  no  more  food — they  did  not 
come  again  for  several  weeks.  But  one  pleasant  day 
after  dinner,  as  I  was  walking  back  and  forth  before 
the  door,  and  taking  my  usual  smoke  of  the  pipe,  I  saw 
him  a  few  rods  distant,  lying  on  the  grass,  apparently 
pensive  and  sorrowful.  On  seeing  me  he  ventured  to 
approach  once  more,  with  his  pipe  in  hand  saying, 
"Nichee,  Nichee,"  and  motioning  for  tobacco.  On  re- 
ceiving it,  he  seemed  to  be  relieved  from  his  fears,  and 
ventured  into  the  house  for  some  food. 

My  wife  inquired  where  his  squaw  was.  He  signi- 
fied by  signs,  that  she  was  at  home,  sick,  and  probably 
had  been  so  from  the  time  of  the  debauch.  So  my  wife 
gave  him  food  to  carry  to  her,  and  the  day  following 
she  came,  evidently  very  feeble.  I  had  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  silent  reproof  they  got  for  the  debauch, 
prevented  its  recurrence  while  we  continued  in  the 
place,  at  least,  for  their  visits  were  frequent,  but  I  never 
saw  any  thing  of  the  kind  again. 

The  circuit,  at  that  time,  extended  to  all  the  white 
settlements  in  the  Territory,  except  the  one  at  St. 
Mary's,  outlet  of  Lake  Superior,  which  was,  perhaps, 
hardly  white.  From  Detroit  we  went  north  to  Pon- 
tiac,  then  but  a  small  village.  From  thence  we  went 
down  the  Upper  Huron,  now  the  Clinton  Eiver,  to 
Mount  Clemens,  and  thence  down  Lake  St.  Clair  and 
river   to    Detroit;   from    thence    again    to    the  Eiver 


268  A  WESTERN     PIONEER. 

Rouse,  and  up  that  stream  some  seven  miles  to  the  up- 
per settlement ;  thence  back  to  the  river  and  lake  road 
leading  to  Monroe,  on  the  River  Raisin;  up  that  nine 
miles,  mostly  on  an  Indian  trail,  to  the  upper  settle- 
ment, and  back  by  the  same  path  to  the  lake  road,  and 
on  to  the  Maumee  at  the  foot  of  the  rapids;  and  thence 
right  back  on  the  lake  road  fifty-eight  miles,  to  Detroit. 
It  required  four  weeks  to  get  round,  though  we  had 
but  twelve  appointments. 

We  arranged  a  plan  so  as  to  preach  every  Sabbath  in 
the  old  council -house  in  the  city,  and  once  in  two  weeks 
at  the  other  places.  To  aid  in  our  support  a  subscrip- 
tion paper  was  circulated  in  Detroit,  on  which  some 
$200  were  pledged,  but  only  $100  was  actually  paid. 

But  another  and  very  unexpected  trouble  broke 
out.  My  colleague  did  not  seem  to  take  well  with  the 
people  in  Detroit.  The  subscription  was  raised  before 
he  came  on,  and  when  I  took  my  turn  on  the  south 
end  of  the  circuit,  leaving  him  in  the  city  for  two  Sab- 
baths in  succession,  some  of  the  outsiders  who  had  sub- 
scribed refused  to  pay,  alleging  that  they  had  sub- 
scribed for  me,  but  I  had  gone  they  knew  not  where, 
and  left  him  to  fill  my  place. 

This  came  to  brother  Baker's  ear  in  rather  a  rough 
manner  before  I  returned ;  and  when  1  reached  home, 
he  proposed,  as  I  thought  generously,  in  view  of  my 
necessities  for  all  the  means  that  could  be  raised,  that 
he  should  take  the  south  end  of  the  circuit,  embracing 
Monroe  and  Maumee,  and  I  attend  to  the  other,  with 
the  understanding  that  we  divide  the  collections,  as  if 
we  both  went  all  round.  To  this  I  agreed,  from  the 
necessity  of  the  case,  to  secure  a  living,  or  a  part  of  it. 
This  arrangement  left  me  in  the  city  every  Sabbath, 
and  to  go  once  in  two  weeks  to  the  country  appoint- 
ments. But  all  that  could  be  raised  could  not  sustain 
my  family,  and  my  wife  kept  a  boarding-house.     But 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  269 

after  all  I  left  the  place  $100  in  debt,  which  I  paid  the 
next  year  out  of  my  own  funds. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  I  saw  the  operation  of 
the  "Under-ground  Eailroad."  At  Judge  Lee's,  at 
Monroe,  I  saw  an  old  negro  and  his  wife,  older,  indeed, 
from  hard  and  cruel  usage  than  from '  years.  They 
were  wending  their  way  to  the  land  of  freedom  below 
Maiden,  or  Amherstburg,  in  Canada.  He  said  he  "  was 
forty-five  years  old  last  corn-planting  time,"  but  his 
wrinkled  face  and  gray  hairs  indicated  over  sixty. 

I  inquired,  "Why  did  you  leave  your  master?" 

"O,  my  master  he  be  dead,  and  all  we  poor  slaves 
were  sold  to  pay  his  debts,  and  were  on  the  way  down 
to  Orleans  to  be  sold  again." 

"Have  you  any  children?" 

"Yes,  massa,  we  have  eight." 

"  Why  did  you  leave  them  ?" 

"  Why,  when  we  get  down  the  river  to  Orleans,  and 
be  sold,  one  goes  one  way  and  another  another  way, 
and  we  should  be  separated  anyhow,  and  me  and  the 
old  woman  thought  if  we  could  get  our  liberty,  though 
we  be  separated  from  our  children,  which  must  take 
place  anyhow,  it  would  be  better  for  us,  and  no  worse 
for  them." 

"Where  did  you  leave  them?" 

"On  the  Ohio  River.  We  came  down  from  Wheel- 
ing in  a  flat-boat,  and  tied  up  on  the  Ohio  side  one  night, 
and  we  made  our  escape  and  traveled  all  night  to  the 
north.  We  lay  by  days  in  the  woods,  and  traveled 
nights  till  we  got  into  the  woods;  then  we  traveled 
days  and  rested  nights." 

"  Were  you  not  afraid  of  being  pursued  and  taken 
back?" 

"  Not  much.  'Cause  there  was  eighty  others  in  the 
boat,  and  they  be  afraid  to  leave  them  to  follow  us  old 
folks,  lest  the  young  ones   escape  too.     But  still,  for 


270  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

fear,  we  lay  by  of  days  a  few  times,  till  we  reach  the 
woods,  then  we  travel  in  the  daytime." 

"Did  you  not  hate  to  part  with  your  children?" 

"Yes;  but  it  make  no  difference,  for  in  Virginia 
they  were  no  use  to  us.  We  was  not  allowed  to  have 
any  help  from  them.  If  I  asked  my  son  to  bring  me 
a  drink,  when  I  was  tired,  in  the  field,  the  overseer 
would  n't  let  him,  but  curse  me  to  get  my  own  drink, 
and  if  we  had  gone  on  with  them  and  been  sold  to 
different  masters,  it  would  have  been  no  better.  We 
should  not  likely  go  all  to  the  same  plantation,  and  if 
we  did  it  would  be  no  better  than  it  was  in  Virginia." 

"How  did  you  know  who  were  your  friends,  and 
whom  to  call  on  to  get  food  and  lodging?" 

"  O,  these  good  men's  names  are  all  known  among 
the  slaves  South." 

"How  did  you  obtain  this  information?" 

"Why,  some  slaves  who  have  escaped,  after  a  while 
came  back  privately  to  get  their  friends  away,  and 
they  tell  us;  and  when  we  get  started,  and  find  one 
good  friend  he  tells  us  of  others  on  the  road,  and  so  on." 

The  Judge  told  me  that  one  morning,  as  he  was 
walking  down  by  the  bridge  to  see  if  any  negroes  were 
about,  as  he  was  wont  to  do,  and  frequently  found  them 
stopped  there  by  the  tollgate,  or  waiting  till  morning 
to  find  him — for  his  name  was  known  all  the  way  into 
slavedom — he  saw  a  young  negro,  about  eighteen  years 
old,  crawl  out  from  under  the  bridge,  who  showed  fear 
of  detection.  As  he  called  to  him  not  to  fear,  as  he  was 
his  friend,  the  negro  approached  and  asked  for  Judge 
Lee.  "  I  am  Judge  Lee,"  was  the  reply,  when  the  ne- 
gro's eye  danced  for  joy,  and  he  asked,  "Please,  massa, 
give  me  something  to  eat?" 

"Yes,  you  follow  that  path  under  the  bank  up  to 
that  brick  house,  and  go  into  the  cellar  kitchen  door, 
and  I'll  be  there  soon." 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  271 

The  negro  was  hardly  out  of  sight  before  two  men 
rode  up ;  one,  who  was  hired  at  the  Maumee,  had  a 
musket,  the  other  had  pistols.  They  inquired  if  he 
had  seen  a  young  negro  there  that  morning  ;  they  knew 
he  could  not  have  got  further  than  that  place,  for  they 
had  heard  of  him  on  the  road. 

"Yes,"  the  Judge  told  them,  "  I  saw  one  here  not 
long  since,  and  the  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  going  up 
the  river,  as  fast  as  he  could  well  travel,"  and  off  they 
went  at  full  speed.  The  Judge  then  went  into  the 
house  and  told  the  negro  that  his  pursuers  had  come, 
and  he  had  sent  them  up  the  river;  and  directing  some 
food  for  him,  told  him,  after  eating,  to  go  into  the  cellar 
and  remain  hid  till  he  came  back.  In  about  an  hour 
the}"  came  back  cursing  the  Abolitionists,  as  some  of 
them  must  have  hid  the  fellow. 

The  Judge  assured  them  that  he  saw  the  negro  go- 
ing up  the  river,  and  was  sure  he  had  not  returned,  as 
he  had  been  there  all  the  time,  and  he  was  also  sure 
that  he  had  not  crossed  the  river,  as  that  was  impossi- 
ble, except  at  the  bridge. 

The  pursuers  rode  round  for  a  while,  but  getting 
no  further  information  of  the  runaway,  gave  up  the 
pursuit  and  went  back,  cursing  the  whole  fraternity  of 
Abolitionists.  In  a  few  hours  the  negro  was  over  the 
river  and  on  his  way  to  Brownstown,  from  whence  he 
could  cross  into  Maiden,  where  he  probably  arrived  that 
night. 

I  was  also  told  of  one  of  the  meanest  of  the  mean 
tricks  ever  played  off,  and  that  by  a  negro  himself. 
He  came  with  his  master  from  Kentucky,  to  decoy  a 
fugitive  into  his  master's  hands,  and  succeeded  too  well. 
He  went  over  into  Canada  and  found  the  fugitive,  and 
told  him  that  he  also  had  made  his  escape  and  wanted 
the  fugitive  to  go  over  and  help  him  get  over  his  goods, 
as  he  had  lots  of  them,  and  he  would  pay  him  well. 


272  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  fugitive  did  not  like  to  cross  the  river  lest  some 
trick  should  be  played  upon  him;  but  after  a  long 
parley  the  decoy  succeeded  in  inducing  the  fugitive  to 
cross  with  him.  As  they  approached  the  house,  the 
master  stepped  out,  with  pistols  in  hand,  and  demanded 
of  the  decoy,  "What,  Jim,  are  you  here  too?"  Jim 
pretended  to  be  alarmed,  but  soon  turned  in  and  helped 
iron  the  prisoner,  and  conveyed  him  back  to  bond- 
age and  suffering. 

In  moving  to  Detroit  four  out  of  five  of  my  chil- 
dren took  the  measles  and  hooping-cough  at  the  same 
time.  My  oldest  had  had  the  measles  but  took  neither 
now.  The  second  had  had  the  measles,  and  his  sister, 
older,  took  it  from  him,  so  that  we  knew  he  had  had 
them,  yet  lie  took  them  again,  having  them  twice. 
But  what  was  singular  in  the  case  was,  that  in  the 
cough  usually  attendant  on  measles,  they  all  whooped. 
When  the  measles  left  them  the  hooping-cough  left 
them  also;  and  all  was  over  in  about  two  weeks  from 
its  first  appearance.  On  inquiry,  I  was  assured  by 
physicians  that  two  diseases  could  not  exist  in  the  sys- 
tem at  the  same  time;  that  one  would  control  and 
carry  off  the  other,  as  in  this  case. 

In  the  Winter  and  Spring  of  1823  I  had  a  severe 
attack  of  inflammation  of  the  lungs  and  liver.  Bleeding 
was  then  in  vogue,  and  I  was  depleted  at  the  rate  of  a 
quart  at  a  time,  and  blistered  all  across  my  breast  in 
proportion.  I  preached  with  a  blister-plaster,  ten  b}7- 
eight  inches,  on  my  breast,  and  the  exercise,  together 
with  perspiration,  caused  it  to  rise  and  fill  till  it  broke 
and  discharged  probably  half  a  pint  down  my  chest, 
while  in  the  desk.  The  doctors  told  me  I  must  desist 
from  preaching,  or  never  get  well.  But  such  were  the 
circumstances  of  the  case,  that  I  must  preach,  or  what 
little  pay  I  got  would  be  stopped,  and  I  risked  the 
danger  and  preached  on. 


REV    ALFRED   BRUNSON,  273 

One  night,  while  preaching,  I  told  the  people  that 
the  first  time  I  came  to  Detroit  it  was  to  help  drive  the 
British  and  Indians  out  of  it,  and  now  I  had  come  to 
help  drive  the  devil  out,  and  wanted  to  get  all  the  vol- 
unteers I  could.  Some  thought  I  would  have  a  harder 
task  of  it  this  time  than  in  the  former  case.  The  con- 
clusion was  that  the  devil  had  a  stronger  hold,  and  had 
more  in  sympathy  with  him,  than  the  British  and  In- 
dians had.  A  man  from  Maiden,  who  happened  to  be 
present,  told  of  my  remarks  at  home,  and  I  was  soon 
invited  to  go  down  there  on  the  same  mission,  for  the 
devil  had  long   had  a  controlling  foothold  in  that  place. 

When  I  first  came  to  the  place  Sunday  markets  were 
as  common  as  week-day  ones.  The  French  brought  in 
their  meats,  fowls,  vegetables,  etc.,  on  Sunday  as  regu- 
larly as  on  any  week-day.  After  selling  out  they  would 
go  to  church,  attend  mass,  and  perhaps  confess  and  pay 
for  absolution  out  of  their  market  money,  and  then  go 
home  apparently  in  good  spirits.  Nor  did  the  Ameri- 
can and  foreign  population  generally  pay  any  more 
respect  to  the  day,  for  they  patronized  the  thing,  to 
the  fullest  extent. 

On  this  practice  I  proclaimed  a  war  of  extermina- 
tion. At  first  it  made  a  stir.  But  a  young  Presby- 
terian preacher  who  was  there  joined  me  in  the  de- 
nunciation of  the  practice,  and  in  a  short  time  the  City 
Council  decreed  that  Sunday  markets  should  cease,  and 
in  place  thereof  a  market  should  be  opened  on  Satur- 
day night.  This  raised  a  great  fuss  among  the  French, 
who  from  time  immemorial  had  thus  broken  the  Sab- 
bath, and  after  market  gone  to  mass,  then  to  the  horse- 
races in  the  afternoon,  and  fiddled,  and  danced,  and 
played  cards  at  night.  But  they  made  a  virtue  of  ne- 
cessity, and  soon  yielded  to  authority  and  gave  up  the 
Sunday  market,  but  adhered  to  the  other  practices. 

AYe  had  in  the  Church   in  Detroit  an  excellent  sis- 


274  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

ter,  who  had  the  misfortune  to  have  an  infidel  fbr  a 
husband.  But  that  itself  would  not  have  been  so  bad, 
if  he  had  been  a  gentleman  withal.  He  persecuted  her 
in  every  way  he  could  without  personal  violence.  But 
this  being  of  no  avail,  except  to  make  her  more  faith- 
ful, he  next  resorted  to  coaxing  and  deception. 

Her  father  lived  near  Pontiac,  and  he  pretended  to 
have  business  at  that  place,  and  asked  her  to  ride  with 
him,  and  visit  her  father,  etc.  She,  of  course,  would 
be  glad  to  do  so ;  and  as  it  would  apparently  gratify 
him,  like  all  good  wives  she  would  go  to  accommodate 
him,  the  thing  being  lawful  and  proper  in  itself. 

She  soon  found  that  sleighs,  before  and  behind,  filled 
with  gentlemen  and  ladies,  full  of  glee,  were  going  in 
the  same  direction,  and  she  began  to  suspect  a  trick  of 
some  kind.  She  inquired  what  it  all  meant.  "  O,"  said 
he,  "they  are  going  to  Pontiac  for  a  ride  and  to  have  a 
supper,  that's  all;''  and  as  they  approached  the  place 
where  they  should  turn  off  to  go  to  her  father's  he  so- 
licited and  urged  her  to  go  and  eat  supper  with  the 
company,  as  they  were  the  elite  of  the  city.  She  would 
not  need  to  dance,  he  said,  after  which  he  would  go  with 
her  to  her  father's,  and  to  please  him,  and  in  hopes  that 
if  she  should  do  so  he  would  treat  her  better,  she  con- 
sented. But,  before  the  cloth  was  removed  from  the 
table,  as  she  told  me  with  tears  in  her  eyes,  the  music 
sprung  up,  and  ere  she  was  aware  of  what  she  was  doing 
she  was  on  the  floor  dancing. 

The  ungodly  and  ungentlemanty  husband  now 
thought  he  had  gained  his  point.  He  presumed  that 
we  would  expel  her,  and  then,  surely,  he  would  have 
her  to  accompany  him  in  his  downward  course ;  but  he 
counted  without  his  host,  for  as  soon  as  she  got  out  of 
the  place,  and  its  influences,  and  the  charm  was  broken, 
like  Peter,  at  the  crowing  of  the  cock,  she  began  to  re- 
pent, and  did  repent  with  bitter  tears;  so  much  so  that 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  275 

he,  seeing  her  great  distress  of  soul  on  account  of  the 
ill-advised  act,  determined  thereafter  to  let  her  go  her 
own  way,  and  not  attempt  to  drive,  cheat,  or  coax  her 
away  from  it. 

In  this  case  our  duty,  and  the  truth  of  God's  prom- 
ise, was  truly  illustrated.  The  promise  is,  "He  shall 
give  his  angels  charge  over  thee  to  keep  thee  in  thy  ways," 
not  out  of  them.  If  she  had  kept  in  the  path  of  duty, 
God  would  have  protected  her ;  but  he  has  not  prom- 
ised to  keep  us  when  out  of  it.  If  w^e  go  upon  the 
devil's  ground,  we  can  not  claim  or  expect  that  God 
will  preserve  us. 

While  here  in  Detroit  I  saw,  what  I  have  since  seen 
more  clearly  exhibited,  that  the  missionary  spirit  is  the 
millennial  spirit.  There  was  but  one  Protestant  minis- 
ter in  the  Territory  besides  myself  and  colleague ;  he  was 
a  Presbyterian  licentiate,  and  not  being  in  orders  himself, 
he  requested  me  to  give  his  little  flock  the  sacraments, 
the  Lord's-Supper  and  baptism.  To  accommodate  him 
and  them,  as  well  as  my  own  charge,  I  administered 
the  Eucharist  once  a  quarter,  inviting  them  to  attend, 
and  baptized  them  and  their  children,  when  requested 
to  do  so.  In  the  missionary  field  we  met  as  brethren, 
laborers  with  God  in  one  common  cause.  No  contro- 
versy between  ourselves  on  non-essential  doctrines,  and 
no  seeking  of  the  supremacy  one  over  the  other  is  ap- 
parently thought  of;  but  Christian  courtesies,  as  of 
brethren  in  one  common  harvest-field,  seem  to  prevail. 
In  this  is  plainly  seen  the  spirit  that  will  prevail  in 
the  millennium,  when  the  watchmen  of  Zion  will  see 
eye  to  eye. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  my  colleague  married,  and 
took  his  wTife  with  him  to  Conference,  traveling,  as  the 
rest  of  us  did,  on  horseback. 


276  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

THE  Ohio  Conference  for  1823  met  in  Urbana,  about 
two  hundred  miles  south  of  Detroit.  We  held  our 
fourth  quarterly-meeting,  as  we  did  all  others,  without 
the  presiding  elder,  at  Maumee,  the  south  end  of  the 
circuit,  from  whence  we  started  to  Conference.  Two 
other  friends  accompanied  us,  making  five  in  all.  Our 
route  lay  through  the  famous  Black  or  Maumee  Swamp, 
on  the  road  cut  out  by  Hull's  army  in  1812.  The  first 
house,  after  leaving  the  Maumee  Rapids  settlement,  was 
a  lone  cabin,  forty  miles  distant,  called  Fort  M' Arthur. 
There  was  not  a  drop  of  drinkable  water  to  be  found 
on  the  road.  The  idea  of  going  through  a  swamp  with- 
out water  was  rather  novel,  but  it  was  literally  true  at 
this  season  of  the  year.  We  saw  abundant  evidence  of 
water  at  some  seasons,  in  the  level  surface  of  the  coun- 
try, from  the  quantity  of  pond-lilies  through  which  we 
passed,  showing  that  the  water  had  stood  on  the  plain, 
in  many  places,  two  or  three  feet  deep. 

The  timber  was  very  thick  and  heavy,  and  the 
foliage  was  so  dense  as  to  keep  the  rays  of  the  sun  from 
reaching  the  ground.  The  soil  consisted  of  a  black 
muck,  made  up,  in  a  great  degree,  from  decayed  veg- 
etation, and,  of  course,  in  a  wet  time,  would  be  very 
soft  and  miry. 

The  flies  and  mosquitoes  were  intolerable  ;  the}7  were 
thick  and  ravenous,  and  seldom  having  blood  to  suck, 
they  seemed  to  be  intent  upon  having  a  full  supply 
when  it  was  at  hand,  or  to  be  obtained.  Of  the  flies 
there  were  two  kinds;  one  was  black,  and  near  an  inch 
long,  and  a  third  to  a  fourth  of  an  inch  through,  with 
bills  capable  of  penetrating  the  horse's  hide  to  the  depth 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  277 

of  a  fourth  of  an  inch,  if  not  more.  These  attacked  the 
horses  in  the  rear,  on  the  rump,  and  on  the  brisket, 
and  between  the  fore  legs.  They  were  so  thick,  and 
bored  so  deep,  that  the  poor  animals  became  very  rest- 
less, and  would  sometimes  rear  and  kick,  and  at  others, 
and  generally,  would  dash  through  the  brush  furiously, 
to  get  rid  of  their  tormentors.  The  other  was  smaller, 
yellow  in  color,  and  resembling  the  hornet;  their  bills 
were  long,  and  from  their  effects,  appeared  to  be  some- 
what poisonous.  These  attacked  the  horses  and  their 
riders  about  the  head,  ears,  eyes,  nose,  and  mouth,  and 
added  much  to  the  torment  of  the  poor  animals,  as  well 
as  the  discomfort  of  the  riders.  In  addition  to  these, 
the  mosquitoes  were  in  swarms,  like  bees,  and  attacked 
anywhere  and  every-where,  both  man  and  beast.  To 
climax  the  whole,  the  yellow-jackets,  a  species  of  hornet, 
and  larger  than  the  flies  just  mentioned,  were  occasion- 
ally disturbed  by  the  leading  horse,  when  those  in  his 
rear  would  receive  the  stings  with  a  vengeance. 

The  road  consisted  of  a  single  bridle-path.  The 
marks  of  wheels  were  not  to  be  seen,  and,  of  course, 
we  had  to  travel  in  Indian  or  single,  file.  The  fore- 
most horse  took  the  heaviest  shock  of  the  flies,  while 
the  hinder  ones  took  the  hornets,  with  a  portion  of  the 
flies.  To  defend  ourselves,  as  best  we  could,  each  one, 
while  he  or  she  held  the  reins  in  one  hand,  held  a  bush 
of  some  kind  in  the  other,  with  which  to  beat  off  the 
insects  from  the  horses,  and  keep  them  out  of  our  faces 
and  eyes.  As  the  foremost  horses  and  riders  seemed  to 
fare  the  hardest,  the  men  took  their  turns  in  the  lead, 
always  leaving  the  lady  in  the  center,  that  portion  being 
the  least  exposed. 

To  give  an  idea  of  the  character  of  our  tormentors, 
I  will  state  as  a  fact,  that  sister  Baker  had  a  thick  head 
of  hair,  over  which  she  wore  a  thick  Leghorn  bonnet, 
and  over  this  she  tied  a  handkerchief,  and  yet  she  was 


278  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

frequently  stung  in  the  head  through  it  all,  and  that  so 
badly  as  to  cause  her  to  cry  out  from  the  pain.  As  a 
matter  of  course,  we  needed  neither  whip  nor  spur  to 
keep  our  beasts  in  motion.  The  greatest  trouble  was  to 
keep  them  within  a  moderate  gait. 

About  noon  we  reached  the  Portage,  or  Carrying 
River,  which  had  no  perceptible  current,  the  water  of 
which  was  hardly  fit  for  our  horses  to  drink,  but  as  no 
other  water  was  to  be  had,  we  let  them  have  a  supply. 
On  the  south  bank  of  this  stream  was  an  opening,  said 
to  have  been  made  by  Hull's  army,  of  about  twenty 
acres.  This  had  grown  up  with  grass,  on  which  we  let 
our  horses  feed,  as  wTell  as  they  could  for  the  flies;  and, 
to  keep  these  insects  in  check  as  much  as  possible,  so  as 
to  relieve  ourselves  and  the  beasts,  we  kindled  a  few 
fires  in  some  old  logs  and  stumps  which  were  left  in 
the  clearing ;  but  our  tormentors  paid  but  little,  if  any, 
attention  to  the  smoke. 

We  had  brought  a  lunch  with  us,  and  I  had  a  jug 
of  water  in  my  saddle-bags,  with  which  to  alleviate  our 
thirst.  Under  the  jug  I  had  a  purse,  with  about  twenty 
dollars  in  it  in  specie,  but,  as  I  never  could  find  it  after 
ward,  I  suppose  that  it  fell  out,  unobserved,  when  I 
turned  the  bag  up  to  get  out  the  jug.  If  not  lost  so,  it 
was  stolen  that  night  at  the  house  where  we  stayed. 
It  was  all  the  money  I  had  to  go  to  and  return  from 
Conference  with,  and  the  consequence  was  I  had  to  beg 
my  way,  or  find  friends  with  whom  I  could  lodge;  in 
the  latter  of  which  I  generally  succeeded. 

We  reached  Fort  M'Arthur  about  sundown,  and 
fared  as  well  as  common  for  a  log-cabin  in  the  wroods. 
When  I  went  to  pay  my  bill,  in  the  morning,  I  could 
not  find  my  purse,  as  before  stated,  and  the  landlord, 
on  hearing  the  circumstances,  let  me  go  without  paying. 

On  reaching  the  Conference  another  storm  broke  out 
on  me,  as  unexpected,  and  without  cause,  as  any  other 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  279 

ever  did.  I  was  a  Yankee,  against  whom  Southern 
prejudices  ran  high,  even  among  preachers.  My  col- 
league the  past  year  was  a  Virginian,  who  seemed  to 
feel  something  of  that  sectional  pride,  so  conspicuous 
among  the  chivalry,  and  the  idea  that  a  Yankee  should 
"be  more  acceptable  to  the  people,  as  a  preacher,  than  a 
Virginian,  was  not  at  all  agreeable  to  his  chivalric  pride. 
While  on  the  spot  where  the  preference  occurred,  he 
expressed  his  entire  satisfaction  with  me  and  the  course 
I  had  pursued,  and  on  the  way  to  Conference  he  had 
repeated  the  same  thing;  but,  on  reaching  Conference, 
and  mingling  with  the  leading  spirits  of  it,  with  whom 
he  was  acquainted  before  he  entered  the  itinerancy, 
who,  it  seemed,  learning  from  him — for  no  one  learned 
it  from  me — the  circumstance,  and  feeling  a  little  piqued 
upon  the  subject,  they  encouraged  him  to  complain  of 
me  for  not  defending  him  nolens  volens,  and  continuing 
him  to  preach  in  Detroit,  though  it  should  have  been 
the  means  of  starving  me  and  my  family. 

A  committee  was  appointed  to  hear  and  investigate 
the  case,  before  whom  he  had  to  acknowledge  that  his 
leaving  Detroit  was  on  his  own  proposition  and  not  mine. 
He  further  acknowledged  that  he  had  expressed  entire 
satisfaction  with  me  at  the  time;  but  on  coming  to 
Conference  and  conversing  with  some  of  his  old  friends, 
he  had,  at  their  instance,  complained ;  but  in  reality  he 
did  not  blame  me  at  the  time,  and  did  not  know  that 
under  a  change  of  circumstances  he  could  or  should 
have  done  an}T  way  different  from  what  I  did.  Upon 
this  the  committee,  who  were  all  of  Southern  stripe, 
advised  him  to  drop  the  matter,  to  which  he  agreed; 
and  they  reported  the  matter  settled,  but  without 
stating  how  or  in  what  manner. 

Bishop  Eoberts,  than  whom  a  better  man  never 
filled  the  Episcopal  chair,  being  President,  said  in  open 
Conference,  that  if  any  preacher  had  any  peculiarities 


280  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

in  his  case,  if  he  would  inform  him,  he  would  endeavor 
to  accommodate  him.  Accordingly  I  went  to  him  in 
his  room  and  stated  my  case;  how  I  had  struggled  to 
live,  and  was  then  one  hundred  dollars  in  debt.  I  also 
rehearsed  the  matter  of  complaint,  and  how  it  had  been 
settled ;  and  he  assured  me  that  I  should  be  duly  con- 
sidered in  my  appointment.  Accordingly  I  was  ap- 
pointed to  Grand  River  circuit,  to  retrace  my  steps 
of  the  previous  year,  with  Robert  Hopkins  for  my 
colleague. 

This  was  Hopkins's  first  year  in  the  itinerancy,  and 
never  having  been  so  far  from  home  in  his  life  as  he 
must  now  go,  he  felt  a  little  frightened  at  the  thought; 
but  meeting  me  at  my  uncle's,  near  Springfield,  we 
traveled  together  to  our  work,  about  three  hundred 
miles.  I  soon  got  him  to  feel  easy  and  at  home  with 
me,  and  we  had  a  pleasant  year. 

On  reaching  Painesville,  the  head  of  the  circuit, 
which  was  but  about  half  of  what  I  had  traveled  two 
years  before,  I  left  my  horse  and  took  passage  in  a 
schooner  for  Detroit.  As  soon  as  possible  I  packed  up 
and  took  passage  for  Fairport,  the  mouth  of  Grand 
River,  in  the  new  steam-boat  Superior,  with  my  family 
and  goods. 

On  the  way  down  we  met  a  gale  soon  after  leaving 
Cleveland  harbor,  which  was  dead  ahead.  M}r  family 
and  many  others  on  board  were  seasick.  The  noble 
steamer  rolled  so  heavily  that  her  guards,  which  were 
some  ten  feet  high,  reached  the  water;  but  her  ma- 
chinery worked  without  a  jar.  At  length  she  pitched 
into  a  swell  that  broke  over  her  bows  so  as  to  cover 
the  deck  ankle  deep  with  water,  much  of  which  ran 
down  by  the  capstan  into  the  steerage,  where  my 
family  were  lying  on  our  own  beds  on  the  floor,  too 
sick  to  raise  their  heads  or  get  out  of  the  water.  It 
was  now  well  into  the  night,  and  the  captain  knowing 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  281 

that  he  could  not  land  in  at  Fairport  in  such  a  gale,  and 
in  the  night,  ordered  her  back  to  Cleveland,  where  he 
anchored  till  morning.  As  soon  as  the  vessel  was  fairly 
moored,  with  her  head  to  the  wind,  she  lay  as  still  as  if 
in  a  calm,  and  the  seasickness  speedily  disappeared  from 
all  on  board. 

The  next  morning  we  took  up  anchor,  and  before 
noon  reached  Fairport.  But  the  wind  was  still  too 
high  for  so  large  a  boat  to  enter  the  harbor  between  the 
piers,  or  at  least  the  captain  thought  so,  and  he  let  go 
his  anchor  a  short  distance  out,  and  landed  us  by  the 
long  boat.  By  the  aid  of  teams  I  soon  got  my  family 
and  goods  into  Painesville,  where  Ave  lived  for  the 
year. 

From  the  time  I  left  Detroit  to  go  to  Conference  till  I 
got  settled  on  my  work,  I  traveled  nine  hundred  miles, 
two-thirds  of  it  on  horseback ;  and  the  year  before  I 
traveled  the  same  distance,  with  four-fifths  of  it  on 
horseback.  This  circuit,  as  before  stated,  was  but  a  part 
of  the  one  I  traveled  two  years  before,  two  four-weeks' 
circuits  having  been  formed  out  of  the  old  one.  We 
now  had  twent}T-four  appointments  each  to  fill  in  four 
weeks,  and  so  arranged  the  plan  as  to  meet  every  two 
weeks  in  Painesville. 

The  disease  with  which  I  was  afflicted  in  Detroit 
still  lingered  about  me ;  both  my  lungs  and  liver  were 
seriously  affected,  and  my  blood  proved  to  be  in  a  very 
bad  state.  One  doctor  attempted  to  bleed  me,  but  my 
blood  was  too  thick  to  run  out  of  a  large  orifice.  It  was 
as  thick  as  tar,  and  as  black.  Another  doctor  applied  a 
large  blister-plaster  over  my  breast.  This  drew  well, 
and  caused  a  large  flow  of  water,  but  the  place  would 
not  heal  up  as  before,  and  continued  a  running  sore,  to 
dry  up  which  he  applied  flour.  I  took,  in  the  mean 
time,  ninety  small  doses  of  calomel  to  stimulate  the 
liver,  but  to  no  effect.     Feeling  the  mineral  all  through 

24 


282  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

my  system,  I  was  compelled  to  take  a  teaspoonful  of 
Epsom  salts  every  other  day  for  three  months. 

We  had  some  revivals  on  the  circuit  this  year,  but 
our  chief  concern  was  to  discipline  and  train  the 
Church.  In  doing  this  a  difficulty  of  great  magnitude 
arose  in  my  way,  from  the  difference  in  administration 
of  Discipline  by  different  preachers.  One  preacher 
would  do  as  he  understood  the  Discipline  to  require,  and 
his  successor  would  undo  it,  because  he  understood  the 
rule  differently;  and  while  some  were  rigid  and  prompt 
in  the  administration,  others  were  more  slack  and  inef- 
ficient, deeming  it  right  to  do  so,  or  because  he  thought 
discipline  of  less  importance  than  preaching. 

In  this  state  of  things  I  saw  the  necessity  of  a  sys- 
tem of  rules  or  comments  on  our  book  of  Discipline, 
tending  to  a  uniformity  of  administration.  But  how 
could  this  be  effected  ?  It  was,  in  fact,  not  so  much  a 
marvel  that  different  administrations  should  occur,  as 
that  among  so  many  thousands,  recently  converted 
from  among  all  sorts,  classes,  and  descriptions  of  men, 
having  former  prejudices,  preferences,  and  predilections, 
should  come  suddenly  together  and  harmonize  as  well 
as  Ave  did. 

The  Bishops'  (Coke  and  Asbury)  Notes  on  the  Dis- 
cipline were  more  of  a  defense  of  our  General  Rules  and 
usages  than  a  directory  or  manual  of  administration. 
Sabin's  defense  of  our  Discipline  came  nearer  to  being 
a  manual  of  practice  than  did  the  Bishops'  Notes.  But 
this  was  more  of  a  defense  against  the  attacks  of  Congre- 
gationalists  than  a  rule  of  practice.  These  two  works 
being  but  small  pamphlets,  were  the  only  works  then 
extant  upon  this  subject. 

Under  these  circumstances  I  commenced  drawing 
up  a  set  of  rules  of  practice,  designed  for  my  own  use, 
tending  to  the  object  in  view,  and  availing  myself  of 
these  works  as  far  as  they  went,  taking  the  Bible  and 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  283 

our  Discipline  as  the  basis  of  my  authority.  But  I  soon 
discovered  the  necessity  of  a  knowledge  of  the  princi- 
ples of  jurisprudence  in  framing  and  applying  such 
rules  of  practice  ;  to  obtain  which  I  commenced  reading 
law,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  four  years,  as  I  could 
obtain  books,  in  the  mean  time  taking  notes  of  such 
parts  and  principles  as  would  apply  to  ecclesiastical 
matters.     Of  the  result  of  this,  more  hereafter. 

In  the  Summer  of  182-4  I  attended  a  camp-meeting 
in  Mantua,  under  the  charge  of  Charles  (afterward  Dr.) 
Elliott,  W.  Swayze  being  the  presiding  elder.  On 
Saturday  the  rowdies  came  in  by  scores,  and  even  hun- 
dreds, and  many  of  them  would  ride  their  horses  inside 
of  the  circle  of  tents,  and  tie  them  to  saplings  in  de- 
fiance of  the  rules,  and  the  entreaties  and  even  threats 
of  those  who  had  charge  of  the  meeting.  It  was 
understood  that  a  conspiracy  wTas  formed,  of  some  twro 
hundred,  to  override  and  break  up  the  meeting. 
Swayze  talked,  reasoned,  coaxed,  threatened,  and  wept, 
but  to  no  purpose.  Elliott,  with  all  his  learning  and 
other  good  properties,  had  no  talent  or  tact  for  such  an 
occasion,  and  retired  to  the  tent  in  despondency,  and  to 
all  appearance  we  were  doomed  to  be  broken  up  and  go 
home  in  disgrace. 

But  like  Paul  at  Athens,  when  he  saw  the  city 
wholly  given  to  idolatry,  I  felt  my  spirit  moved  within 
me.  I  could  bear  to  be  ridden  over  crosswise;  but 
when  it  came  lengthwise,  and  rough  shod  at  that,  I 
could  not  help  squirming  a  little.  I.could  bear  a  large 
amount  of  personal  abuse,  but  when  the  Church  and 
the  cause  of  God  were  imposed  upon,  I  could  but  feel 
the  lion  in  me  rise. 

I  inquired  of  Elliott,  "Why  don't  you  preserve 
order  on  the  ground?" 

He,  in  his  blunt  Irish  and  laconic  style,  said,  "I 
can  't  do  it." 


284  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"Well,"  said  I,  "if  it  were  my  meeting,  I  would 
quiet  them  down  very  quick." 

"I  know  that,"  said  Elliott,  "and  I'll  give  up  the 
meeting  to  you ;  I'll  make  3-011  captain  of  the  guard." 

"Well,  if  you  will  get  Swayze's  consent,  I'll  quell 
the  riot  in  short  order." 

At  this  moment  Swayze  came  into  the  tent.  He 
was  pale  in  the  face,  his  lips  quivered,  the  tears  ran 
down  his  cheeks  freely,  and  he  said  to  Elliott,  ''If  you 
don't  preserve  order  here,  I'll  take  my  horse  and  leave 
the  ground.  I  never  saw  such  bad  conduct  on  a  camp- 
ground in  my  life  before." 

"O,"  said  Elliott,  "I've  given  up  the  ground  to 
Brunson,  and  made  him  captain  of  the  guard.  He  11 
soon  put  things  right." 

At  this  Swayze  turned  to  me  and  said,  "0,  yes, 
why  didn't  we  think  of  that  before?  Brunson,  you're 
the  only  man  that  can  save  us." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "you  give  it  out  from  the  stand  that 
I  am  captain  of  the  guard,  and  have  the  control  of  the 
ground,  so  that  no  one  may  think  me  assuming  what 
belongs  to  others,  and  I'll  soon  quell  the  row." 

He  did  this,  and  1  selected  a  strong  guard  and  a 
numerous  patrol,  whom  I  enlisted  as  I  did  those  at 
Vernon,  three  years  before.  Night  having  come,  the 
candles  and  fire-stands  were  lighted,  so  that  the  whole 
ground  was  well  illuminated.  Going  upon  the  stand  I 
blew  the  trumpet,  and  called  the  congregation  to  order. 
Some  hundreds  paid  no  attention  to  the  trumpet,  nor 
the  respectful  requests  for  all  to  be  seated  wTho  were 
within  the  circle  of  the  tents,  and  were  moving  round 
as  if  at  a  State  fair. 

I  then  had  a  voice  and  physical  strength  that  could 
cover  ten  thousand  people,  and  make  them  distinctly 
hear  all  I  said.  This  I  raised  high  enough  to  fill  the 
circle  formed  by  the  tents,  and  for  half  a  mile  round, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  285 

and  said,  "There  are  certain  lewd  fellows  of  the  baser 
sort,  who  have  neither  character  nor  breeding,  who 
have  come  here  to  disturb  us,  and  we  wish  to  know 
who  they  are,  that  we  may  apply  the  law  to  them. 
For  this  purpose  we  request  all  Christians,  and  all  gen- 
tlemen and  ladies  to  take  their  seats,  leaving  the 
rowdies  on  their  feet,  that  we  may  know  whom  to 
take  hold  of." 

At  this  the  largest  portion  of  the  stragglers  took 
seats;  but  still  groups  here  and  there  paid  no  attention 
to  the  request.  Raising  my  voice  still  higher,  I  said  to 
one  group,  you  men  by  that  tree;  or  you  men  by  that 
fire-stand ;  or  in  that  angle,  as  the  case  might  be,  for  I 
took  every  group  in  turn,  and  when  they  turned  their 
eyes,  and  opened  their  ears,  I  repeated  what  I  had  said 
before  to  the  whole,  and  the  result  was,  they  all  took 
seats,  and  the  ground  became  as  still  and  quiet  as  the 
inside  of  a  church.  I  felt  and  spoke  as  one  having 
authority,  and  from  the  quickness  with  which  they 
were  all  seated,  I  concluded  that  they  thought  so  too. 

Being  all  seated  and  quiet,  and  all  eyes  fixed  on  the 
stand  as  if  expecting  a  thunder-blast,  I  said,  "They 
are  either  not  here,  or  thej^  are  ashamed  to  own  their 
true  character ;  and  from  what  we  have  seen  and  heard, 
I  conclude  that  the  latter  is  the  fact  in  the  case,  and 
I  will  address  you  accordingly.  v 

"  We  have  assembled  here  peaceably,  and  under  the 
protection  of  the  laws  of  the  State,  to  worship  God;  and 
whether  you  agree  with  us  in  our  mode  of  worship  or 
not,  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  guarantee 
to  us  the  right,  and  we  intend  to  enjoy  it.  But  some 
of  you  have  come  here  on  purpose  to  molest,  disturb, 
and  break  up  our  meeting.  This  is  not  only  ungentle- 
manly,  anti-republican,  and  in  violation  of  the  laws  of 
the  State,  but  it  is  a  sin  against  God  of  a  high  magni- 
tude, for  which  he  will  damn  you  to  the  lowest  regions 


286  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

of  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone,  unless  you  repent 
and  obtain  forgiveness  from  him. 

"Most  of  you  are  the  descendants  of  the  New  En- 
gland Puritans,  who  left  their  native  land  in  Europe, 
braved  the  dangers  of  the  ocean,  and  encountered  the 
dangers  and  difficulties  of  a  settlement  in  a  wilderness, 
inhabited  by  savages — as  some  of  you  have  proved  to 
be — to  secure  to  themselves  and  their  posterity — of 
whom  you  are  a  part — civil  and  religious  freedom. 
You  are  the  descendants  of  the  patriot  fathers  who 
fought,  bled,  and  died  to  secure  that  freedom,  in  the 
Revolutionary  war.  Some  of  you,  or  your  fathers,  per- 
iled your  or  their  lives  with  me,  in  the  late  war,  called 
the  second  war  of  Independence,  and  you  are  now 
enjoying  the  fruits  of  all  those  things,  in  the  civil  and 
religious  liberty  you  enjoy  at  home.  And  if  your 
ancestors  could  rise  from  the  dead,  and  witness  your 
conduct  upon  this  ground,  they  would  reprove  you 
for  it. 

"As  I  took  a  part  in  the  second  war  of  Independ- 
ence, and  helped  defend  this  very  ground  on  which  we 
have  met,  and  the  homes  of  some  of  you,  from  being 
overrun  by  the  merciless  savages  of  the  forests,  and  to 
secure  and  perpetuate  the  liberties  secured  to  us  by 
our  forefathers,  I  will  not  be  driven  from  them.  I 
have  risked  life  and  limb  to  protect  this  very  soil  on 
which  we  have  met  from  savage  barbarity,  and  I  will 
not  consent  to  be  driven  from  it  by  white  savages. 

"And  now  I'll  just  tell  you  the  upshot  of  the  affair. 
I  have  a  strong  guard,  besides  a  numerous  patrol,  who 
are  watching  you,  and  will  be  at  your  heels ;  and  if  you 
contrive  or  do  mischief,  or  disturb  us  in  our  worship, 
they  will  give  me  your  names,  and  I  shall  have  you 
fined,  and  your  names  will  be  published  in  the  news- 
papers." 

The  preacher  for  the  evening  then  took  the  stand, 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  287 

and  a  more  attentive  audience  I  never  saw.  After  the 
sermon,  the  prayer-meetings  were  in  operation,  and  1 
was  on  the  alert  to  keep  and  preserve  order.  But  I 
could  but  be  a  little  amused  at  the  course  things  took. 
Numerous  groups  of  men  were  seen  standing  and  talk- 
ing in  different  parts  of  the  ground,  but  orderly  and 
harmless,  and  of  course  not  the  objects  of  my  pursuit. 
As  they  usually  stood  in  a  circle,  the  eyes  of  some  one 
would  be  in  the  direction  of  my  approach,  and  seeing 
me  coming,  they  would  separate,  as  if  fearful  of 
capture. 

A  brother  afterward  told  me  that  he  was  lying  in 
his  tent,  wondering  what  manner  of  man  I  was,  for  the 
very  devils  seemed  to  be  subject  to  me.  When  a  group 
of  rowdies  gathered  about  his  fire,  back  of  the  tent, 
one  of  them  said,  "I  wish  I  had  Brunson  out  here." 

"What  would  you  do?"  said  another. 

'•I  would  give  him  a  mauling." 

The  other  replied,  "It  would  take  two  like  you  to 
do  that." 

"Why,  is  he  stout?" 

"Yes,  you  may  know  that  by  his  looks;  and  besides 
that,  he  has  been  an  old  soldier,  and  I  expect  an  old 
boxer." 

"Well,  if  I  had  him  out  here,  I'd  give  him  a  clip 
anyhow." 

"It  would  be  a  dear  clip  if  you  did  so,  and  I  advise 
you  to  keep  out  of  his  hands." 

One  of  the  guard  told  me  that  he  was  standing  with 
a  group  by  a  fire,  outside  of  the  tents,  watching  them. 
They  were  cracking  jokes,  but  otherwise  harmless, 
when,  as  some  one  was  coming  through  the  brush 
toward  them,  one  inquired,  "Who  is  that?"  The  guard, 
to  see  the  effect  it  might  have,  said  he  guessed  it  was 
Brunson.  "Then,"  said  he,  "it  is  time  I  was  off."  And 
the  whole  group  started  for  some  other  location. 


288  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Brother  Barrah,  of  Beaver,  Perm.,  said  to  me,  after- 
ward, "I  wouldn't  have  taken  the  drubbing  you  gave 
those  rowdies  for  five  hundred  dollars;  but  they  richly 
deserved  it,  and  more  too." 

The  night  passed  off  peacefully,  and  many  souls  were 
converted  in  the  prayer-circles  and  tents.  Believers 
were  quickened,  and  the  work  moved  on  with  power. 

The  next  day  a  Presbyterian  deacon  told  me,  pri 
vately,  that  some  two  hundred  rowdies  were  coming 
'that  night,  with  stones  in  their  pockets,  to  get  behind 
the  stand,  and  when  I  was  seating  the  congregation,  to 
pelt  me  wTith  their  missiles,  as  I  stood  in  the  stand,  and 
let  them  go  as  it  might  happen,  among  the  people,  hit 
whom  they  would.  I  thanked  him,  and  took  measures 
to  defeat  their  ill-devised  scheme.  That  night,  in  seat- 
ing the  congregation,  I  told  the  rowdies  what  I  had 
heard,  and  said,  "I  told  you  last  night  that  I  would 
have  men  at  your  heels,  and  if  you  contrived  mischief 
they  would  tell  me  of  it,  and  now,  here  is  the  proof  of 
it."  And  turning  toward  the  ravine  behind  the  stand, 
where  I  had  men  posted  to  watch  the  rowdies,  I  roared 
defiance  at  the  enemy.  The  reverberations  sounded 
and  resounded  till  they  were  lost  in  the  distance  down 
the  ravine.  No  stones  came  from  that  or  any  other 
direction,  and  we  had  another  peaceful  and  blessed 
night. 

The  next  morning  our  trumpet  was  gone,  and  some 
one  soon  informed  me  that  it  had  been  pawned  for 
whisky  at  a  shanty,  just  over  a  mile  from  camp,  which 
was  the  limit  of  the  law  protecting  such  meetings. 
To  collect  the  congregation,  therefore,  I  had  to  use  the 
trumpet  voice  with  which  nature  had  furnished  me,  and 
the  people  soon  came  together. 

I  toid  them  "that  the  trumpet  had  been  stolen  and 
carried  off,  and  as  it  was  probable  that  no  man  would 
have  the  hardihood  to  commit  such  a  sacrilegious  theft, 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  289 

I  thought  it  most  likely  that  some  thoughtless  boy  had 
been  induced  to  do  it.  It'  so,  and  he  should  escape 
with  impunity,  he  might  be  encouraged  to  steal  again, 
and  if  he  grew  up  a  thief,  he  would  probably  teach  his 
children  to  steal;  and  as  stealing  led  to  robbery,  and 
robbery  to  murder,  God  only  knew  how  many  might  yet 
be  hung  as  the  consequence  of  stealing  that  trumpet. 
Now,  if  that  trumpet  is  not  back  here  in  its  place 
within  one  hour,  I  will  have  out  a  search  warrant,  and 
the  man  in  whose  possession  it  is  found  shall  be  held 
responsible  for  the  theft."  In  less  than  an  hour  the 
trumpet  was  found  on  the  stand,  but  no  one  except  God 
and  the  thief  knew  how  it  got  there. 

The  whole  meeting,  after  quelling  the  rowdies  on 
Saturday  night,  was  one  of  great  power,  and  much  good 
was  done.  On  Monday  night  the  presiding  elder  varied 
the  exercises,  by  having  five  or  six  preachers  relate 
their  experience;  their  conversion,  their  call  to  the 
ministry,  and  a  short  account  of  their  labors,  with  a 
statement  of  their  present  enjoyments  and  prospects. 
He  was  apt  and  judicious  in  such  plans,  and  knowing 
the  peculiar  gilts,  powers,  and  abilities  of  his  preachers, 
he  so  arranged  the  matter  as  to  begin  with  the  one  who 
had  the  least  force  in  such  a  case,  and  rise  in  the  grade, 
taking  the  next  highest,  and  so  on  till  he  came  to  him- 
self to  wind  up.  As  his  gifts  qualified  him  for  such  a 
task,  and  to  call  up  mourners,  no  one  objected  to  the  ar- 
rangement.    He  saw  fit  to  place  me  last,  before  himself. 

During  this  exercise  an  old  Baptist  preacher  sat 
on  the  stand.  He  was  not  at  the  meeting  till  that 
day,  and  in  courtesy  he  was  invited  to  that  seat.  He 
seemed  to  listen  with  astonishment;  he  watched  the  ef- 
fect upon  the  audience,  and  as  he  left,  with  some  of  his 
friends,  he  was  heard  to  say,  "  If  that  is  the  way  the 
Methodists  conduct  their  camp-meetings,  I  don't  won- 
der they  get  so  many  converted  as  they  do." 

25 


290  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Notwithstanding  the  advantage  the  Church,  preach- 
ers and  people,  derived  from  my  quelling  the  rowdies  as 
I  did,  I  had  to  suffer  for  it  afterward,  both  in  flesh  and 
spirit.  My  name  was  up  for  a  "  war-horse,"  a  bard  case 
to  manage,  and  both  preachers  and  people  imbibed  the 
idea  that  in  ruling  the  Church,  if  in  authority,  it  would 
be  "  with  a  rod  of  iron,"  and  what  would  not  bend  be- 
fore me  must  break.  Yet,  if  either  preachers  or  people 
had  a  hard  or  difficult  case  of  opposition  to  grapple  with, 
they  would  call  on  me  to  do  the  fighting.  Eut  when 
this  was  done,  and  the  coast  was  clear,  I  might  stand 
back  till  another  such  case  required  my  assistance. 

What  came  from  enemies  I  cared  but  little  about. 
But  to  be  viewed  in  this  light,  and  be  treated  in  this 
manner  by  my  brethren^  for  whom,  as  of  the  Church  of 
God,  I  did  it,  was  a  sore  affliction,  so  much  so' that  I 
was  often  tempted  to  wish  that  I  had  not  been  en- 
dowed with  such  gifts,  and  been  made  responsible  to 
God,  for  their  use,  even  though  our  meetings  should 
have  been  broken  up,  the  people  dispersed,  and  souls 
be  lost  in  consequence  thereof,  because  it  strewed  my 
path  with  such  heavy  thorns.  But  for  this  I  might 
have  passed  along  through  life  ea.sily  as  many  others 
have  done,  and  been  more  popular  and  acceptable  as  a 
preacher,  both  with  preachers  and  people,  though  in 
truth  I  fared  better  with  the  people  than  with  the 
pi-eachers.  But  whether  in  the  day  of  judgment  it 
would  be  as  well  for  me,  is  a  question  for  that  day  alone 
to  decide.  My  own  conscience  has  always  felt  most  at 
ease  when  I  did  my  duty  to  God  and  his  Church, 
whatever  the  consequences  might  be,  leaving  conse- 
quences with  my  final  Judge. 

Seven  years  after  this  camp-meeting  I  was  at  a 
meeting  of  the  same  kind  in  Shalersville,  when  a 
brother  came  to  me  and  said,  "There  is  a  man  on  the 
ground  who  says  so  and  so  about  you." 


REV.   ALFRED   BRUNSON.  291 

"Well,"  said  I,  "let  me  see  him.  He  won't  say  it 
to  my  face.     It  is  a  lie,  and  he  knows  it." 

"  I  am  afraid  you  '11  flog  him." 

"No,  I  won't  touch  him.  But  he  won't  say  it  to 
my  face.     It  is  a  lie,  and  he  knows  it." 

"Well,  let  me  go  and  see  him  first  about  it."  And 
away  he  went,  but  soon  returned  and  said,  "  I  went 
to  him  and  asked,  'What  made  you  tell  that  lie  about 
Branson?'  'Why,'  said  he,  'seven  years  ago  at  a  camp- 
meeting  in  Mantua,  he  threatened  to  cane  me'" — 
which  was  not  true — '"and  I  couldn't  get  revenge  on 
him  in  any  other  way.'  And  I  said  to  him,  'You  had 
better  leave;  he  is  after  you,  and  if  he  catches  you 
he  '11  break  every  bone  in  your  body.'  And,"  said 
my  informant,  "the  last  I  saw  of  him  he  was  mak- 
ing a  straight  coat-tail  toward  home,  and  the  boys 
were  laughing  at  him." 

At  the  General  Conference  of  1824,  the  Pittsburg 
Conference  was  organized  out  of  parts  of  the  Baltimore, 
Ohio,  and  Genesee  Conferences,  which  included  the  part 
in  which  I  traveled.  But  the  Bishops'  plan  of  Episco- 
pal Visitation,  being  in  those  days  made  out  a  year  be- 
forehand, it  did  not  provide  for  meeting  this  new  Con- 
ference in  that  year,  and,  of  course,  we  had  to  go  over 
to  1825,  before  we  had  a  meeting. 

In  consequence  of  this,  we  met  with  the  Ohio  Con- 
ference for  this  year,  which  sat  at  Zanesville.  On  reach- 
ing the  place  I  found  that  my  name  had  been  sought  by 
several  as  a  boarder  during  the  session  of  Conference. 
This  was  so  different  from  what  had  ever  occurred  before, 
that  I  could  but  inquire  for  the  reason ;  and  was  told 
that  they  remembered  the  camp-meeting  which  I  at- 
tended four  years  previous,  near  that  place.  But  what- 
ever might  have  been  the  cause,  such  a  reception,  so  differ- 
ent from  former  treatment,  could  not  but  be  gratifying. 

At  this  Conference  some  of  the  Wyandot  converted 


292  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Indians  were  in  attendance.  It  being  only  about  ten 
years  since  the  late  war  with  England,  in  which  thou- 
sands of  our  citizens  were  engaged  in  deadly  strife  with 
Indians,  allied  to  the  British,  the  public  mind  was  on 
tiptoe  to  see  a  Christian  and  civilized  Indian,  or  any 
number  of  such;  of  course,  all  eyes  were  open  to  see, 
and  all  ears  open  to  hear  what  they  would  say.  To 
gratify  this  curiosity,  as  well  as  to  show  the  Church 
and  the  world  some  of  the  fruits  of  our  new  mission  to 
the  aborigines,  some  of  the  chiefs  were  put  up  in  the 
pulpit  of  the  Presbyterian  Church,  the  largest  in  town, 
and  placed  at  our  service  during  the  Conference,  who 
addressed  the  people  through  an  interpreter. 

They  commenced  by  giving  an  account  of  their  con- 
version, and  then  gave  a  statement  of  some  of  the  fruits 
of  the  Gospel  among  them.  One  said  :  "  When  the  Word 
of  God  came  among  us,  it  met  with  opposition,  from 
the  natural  enmity  of  the  human  heart  to  the  things 
of  God.  But  opposition  was  in  vain.  The  Word  took 
effect;  and" — raising  his  hands  and  pushing  back — 
"you  might  as  wTell  stop  a  thunder  gust  with  your 
hands  as  stop  the  Word  of  God ;  it  will  go,  when  God 
sends  it."  In  illustration  of  its  effects  upon  them,  he 
said  it  tamed  the  wild  man.  and  like  him  from  among 
tombs,  they  sat  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  and  were  clothed 
and  in  their  right  minds.  He  said,  '-Once  you  were 
afraid  of  us,  and  wTe  were  afraid  of  you ;  but  now  we 
meet  as  friends  and  brethren,  in  love  and  good-will." 
This  remark  went  like  an  electric  shock  through  the 
audience,  where  there  wTere  hundreds  of  those  who 
were  soldiers  in  the  late  war. 

Among  the  listeners  to  the  chiefs,  on  this  occasion, 
was  General  Cass,  then  Governor  of  Michigan.  While 
I  w7as  in  the  territory,  two  years  before,  I  had  laid  the 
cause  of  Indian  Missions  before  him,  and  urged  the 
fruit  of  the  missions  at  Upper  Sandusky,  of  which  he 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  293 

had  some  knowledge,  in  favor  of  missions  among  the 
Indians  under  his  immediate  charge,  as  general  super- 
intendent of  Indians.  Being  personally  acquainted 
with  J.  B.  Finley,  who  then  had  charge  of  the  Wyan- 
dot Mission,  he  applied  to  him,  and  through  him  to  the 
Conference,  to  establish  missions  among  his  Indians 
in  Michigan.  I  believe  he  had  an  interview  with 
Bishop  Soule  and  his  cabinet  on  the  subject,  and  it  was 
reported  that  the  result  of  the  interview  was,  that 
missions  should  be  there  established,  and  that  the  gov- 
ernment funds  for  the  support  of  schools,  blacksmiths, 
and  farmers,  should  be  applied  through  the  mission. 
But  why  it  failed  to  be  accomplished,  I  never  knew. 

My  appointment  this  year  (1824)  was  on  Youngs- 
town  circuit,  with  John  Summerville  for  a  colleague. 
This  was  a  part  of  the  old  Mahoning  circuit,  which  I 
traveled  four  years  before,  and  lay  in  the  south-east 
part  of  Trumbull  county,  now  Mahoning  county,  Ohio. 
I  moved  my  family  into  Youngstown  village.  The  cir- 
cuit had  on  it  about  twenty  appointments  to  be  filled 
in  four  weeks,  by  each  of  us,  two  weeks  apart. 

But  my  family  being  large,  having  seven  children 
at  this  time,  and  my  receipts  from  my  circuits  never 
exceeding  §200,  and  seldom  that,  out  of  which  I  had  to 
pay  house-rent,  I  found  my  receipts  were  not  equal  to 
my  expenses,  and  that  I  must  either  locate  them  where 
they  could  do  something  toward  a  living,  and  then 
travel  as  far  as  I  could  from  home,  or  to  locate  myself 
with  them.  To  this  last  idea  I  could  not  consent  with 
a  clear  conscience  toward  God,  and,  therefore,  was  com- 
pelled to  do  the  other. 

I  had  a  small  farm  that  I  had  left  when  I  com- 
menced moving  to  my  circuits;  but  its  situation  was 
not  such  as  suited  me  for  traveling  nor  my  family  as 
a  residence;  I  therefore  purchased  a  piece  of  land  in 
Hubbard,  near  a  church,  and  at  a  point  where  some 


294  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

six  or  eight  circuits  would  be  within  a  day's  ride  from 
home.  I  sold  my  other  land  to  obtain  means  to  pay 
for  it,  and  discharged  some  debts  that  had  accrued.  I 
soon  found  that  there  was  a  wide  difference  between 
paying  house-rent,  and  for  all  my  wood,  vegetables, 
hay,  milk,  etc.,  and  having  them  of  my  own  produc- 
tion. Though  it  cost  me  much  more  travel,  and  kept 
me  longer  from  home,  generally,  yet  that  loss  and  in- 
convenience was  my  own,  and  not  that  of  the  circuit. 
Three  circuits  were  about  as  convenient  to  me  as  if  I 
lived  on  them,  all  of  which  I  rode  in  turn,  though  af- 
terward I  had  to  go  further. 

The  doctrine  that  an  itinerant  must  move  his  family 
on  to  his  charge  is  a  good  one,  provided  his  charge 
will  support  him.  But  if  he  must  draw  upon  his  own 
resources  to  live,  it  is  but  just  for  him  to  use  them  to  the 
best  advantage;  otherwise  they  will  be  exhausted,  and 
then  he  must  locate  anyhow.  Where  circuits  can  not 
support  their  preachers,  it  is  certainly  preferable  to  have 
a  preacher  for  them  who  lives  at  home,  and  can  make 
up  their  deficiencies  from  his  own  resources,  than  to 
have  no  preacher  at  all. 

In  the  beginning  of  Winter,  a  notice  appeared  in 
the  Warren  papers  that  a  dancing-school  would  com- 
mence in  that  village,  on  the  Tuesday  night  following. 
My  appointment  came  there  on  the  Sunday  previous. 
The  dancing-master  was  said  to  have  three  wives  in 
different  parts  of  the  country,  which  was  certainly  no 
recommendation  of  him  or  any  other,  as  a  teacher  of 
morals,  and  especially  to  young  ladies. 

As  I  had  made  war  upon  sin  and  the  devil,  I  preached 
against  dancing,  and  showed  from  Scripture,  reason, 
and  common  sense  the  sinfulness  of  it;  the  bad  effects 
of  it  on  health  and  morals,  and  especially  if  taught  by 
a  man  having  a  plurality  of  wives ;  and  concluded  by 
saying,  "  I  hope  that  no  Christian  or  believer  in  Chris- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  295 

tianity  will  patronize  that  school,  for  you  profess  to 
believe  that  John  the  Baptist  was  an  eminent  prophet 
of  the  Lord;  and  you  know  that  his  head  was  taken  off 
to  reward  a  damsel  of  doubtful  reputation  for  dancing. 
And  I  hope  no  Mason  will  patronize  it,  for  you  believe 
that  John  was  an  eminent  friend  and  patron  of  the 
order.  It  would  be  inconsistent  for  you  to  perpetuate 
an  institution,  to  reward  which  the  Church  and  fra- 
ternity were  deprived  of  his  valuable  services." 

The  next  morning,  before  leaving  town,  I  was  in  a 
law  office  to  borrow  books  to  prosecute  my  legal  studies, 
where  were  several  students  who  were  Masons.  They 
asked  me  if  I  was  not  one.  I  replied,  "I  am."  "I 
thought  so,"  said  one  of  them,  "  by  your  remarks  yes- 
terday." Upon  this  I  renewed  my  exhortation.  The 
next  round  I  was  told  that  before  night  every  Mason 
in  town  was  informed  of  the  fact,  and  went  against  the 
school ;  and  when  the  time  for  beginning  it  came  but 
two  or  three  pupils  appeared,  and  the  dancing-master 
took  sudden  leave. 

In  the  Summer  of  1825  I  went,  at  the  request  of 
brother  Elliott,  the  presiding  elder,  to  a  camp-meeting 
in  Wayne.  He  said  my  stated  appointment  on  Sun- 
days, at  such  meetings,  was  at  three  o'clock,  P.  M., 
when  the  rowdies  were  usually  uneasy  and  troublesome, 
being  then  about  to  leave  the  camp.  In  that  neighbor- 
hood the  Good  Master  had  favored  the  Methodists  with 
•the  conversion  of  about  two  hundred  souls;  but  a  sys- 
tem of  proselytism  had  been  so  ingeniously  and  suc- 
cessfully practiced,  that  half  or  more  of  these  had  been 
induced  to  join  other  Churches.  Many  of  these  prose- 
lytcrs  were  on  the  ground,  watching  for  new  spoils  in 
the  case  of  new  conversions. 

If  our  converts  choose  to  go  to  other  folds,  disre- 
garding the  indications  of  God's  will  in  their  being 
awakened  and  converted  among  us,  and  of  their  own 


296  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

accord,  we  say  to  them,  go  ;  we  want  none  but  volunteers, 
those  who,  from  principle,  prefer  their  spiritual  birth- 
place as  their  home;  but  when  they  are  led  away, 
against  their  first  convictions  of  duty,  by  artful  maneu- 
vering and  false  representations,  we  deem  it  but  right 
to  enlighten  them  as  to  the  truth  in  the  case,  and  to  ex- 
pose to  public  view  the  deceptions  resorted  to  in  such 
matters.  When  other  Churches  will  change,  or  modif}r, 
their  creeds,  or  confessions  of  faith,  or  receive  persons 
into  their  membership  who  profess  doctrines  opposite 
to  their  own,  we  deem  it  but  just  and  right  to  expose 
the  dishonesty. 

These  being  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  our  cause 
demanded  a  defense,  and  the  task  was  laid  upon  me,  as 
usual,  and  I  confess  that  I  bore  down  on  such  practices 
with  a  heavy  hand,  and  declared  that  I  would  as  soon 
take  my  neighbor's  sheep  by  theft,  or  rob  his  hen-roost, 
as  to  induce  away,  or  steal  by  false  representations, 
other  people's  converts;  if  any  Methodist  preacher  was 
known  to  do  so,  I  would  hold  up  both  hands  to  expel 
him  from  the  Church.  If  men  recently  or  long  since 
converted,  actually,  and  from  their  own  researches, 
change  their  views  of  the  Gospel,  and  wish,  from  this, 
to  change  their  Church  relationship,  we  make  no  objec- 
tion to  their  going,  and,  if  their  deportment  has  been  in 
accordance  with  Christian  principles,  we  will  give  them 
a  letter  or  certificate  of  the  fact,  as  a  recommendation 
to  their  newly  selected  fraternity;  but  against  fraudu- 
lent proselytism  we  enter  a  strong  and  unmistakable 
protest. 

As  a  matter  of  course,  the  guilty  squirmed  and 
writhed,  and,  like  men  guilty  of  other  wrongs,  when  ex- 
posed, threatened  personal  violence.  Some  threatened 
to  ride  me  on  a  rail;  others,  tar  and  feathers;  while 
others  talked  loudly  of  the  use  of  the  horse-whip.  The 
spirit  thus  manifested  showed,  unequivocally,  a  spirit 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  297 

other  than  Christian,  and  also  showed  that  the  young 
converts  who  had  been  thus  led  into  their  fellowship, 
had  but  poor  prospects  of  a  growth  in  grace  and  in  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth. 

Even  in  cases  of  voluntarily  going  from  us,  for  the 
sake  of  popularit}',  or  to  avoid  the  cross  of  being  a 
Methodist,  or  to  be  under  less  rigid  rules  of  discipline, 
has  never  resulted  in  the  advancement  of  the  subject  in 
the  Divine  life,  but  invariably  resulted  in  a  settled, 
dead  formality,  or  total  apostasy;  and  mostly  the  latter. 

Some  of  our  faint-hearted  brethren  almost  fainted 
under  the  discourse,  from  fear  lest  those  who  were  ex- 
posed should  take  offense  and  raise  a  muss;  but  the 
discourse  resulted  in  good.  Men  of  the  world,  who  took 
no  sides  in  the  contest,  but  had  seen  and  known  of  the 
schemes  resorted  to  to  proselyte,  said  it  was  just  and 
true,  eveiy  word  of  it.  The  exposure  prevented  further 
perversions  of  young  converts  in  that  region,  at  least 
for  that  time. 

At  one  of  my  appointments  a  good  sister  had  a  Uni- 
versalist,  or  hell-redemptionist,  for  a  husband.  He  was, 
however,  a  gentleman,  and  treated  his  wife,  and  her 
Christian  friends,  with  due  courtesy  and  respect;  but  he 
was  uneasy  in  his  mind.  Like  all  others  I  have  ever  seen 
who  espoused  that  soul-damning  creed,  he  must  be  con- 
stantly arguing  with  some  one  in  support  of  his  creed.  If 
he  grappled  with  one  who  was  not  skilled  or  learned  in 
such  polemics,  and  could  get  the  better  of  him  in  argu- 
ment, then  he  felt  elated  for  a  while  with  the  hope — not 
the  conviction,  but  hope — that  his  doctrine  would  stand 
the  test.  If  he  was  worsted  in  the  argument,  then  he 
was  in  great  fear  of  the  future,  and  that  there  is  a  hell, 
out  of  which  he  could  not  escape  if  once  cast  into  it. 

At  length  he  concluded  that  he  must  try  me.  If 
he  could  get  the  better  of  the  argument  with  me  he 
thought  he  could  feel  contented,  and  settle  down  in  his 


298  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

belief.  So,  to  get  an  opportunity  for  his  purpose,  he  in- 
vited me  to  stay  with  him  over  night  on  one  of  my 
rounds,  and  asked,  as  a  favor,  to  discuss  the  question, 
and  to  answer  some  of  Winchester's  strong  points,  if  I 
could.  I  told  him  that  I  made  it  a  rule  not  to  go  to  a 
friend's  house  and  receive  his  hospitalities,  and  then  dis- 
pute with  him  on  his  favorite  theories;  that  I  was  satis- 
fied with  my  creed,  and  he  could  not  convert  me,  and  I 
presumed  it  was  the  same  with  him.  "In  preaching," 
said  T,  "I  endeavor  to  set  forth  the  truth,  and  if  I  can 
will  thus  correct  his  errors;  but  I  prefer  not  to  argue 
the  case  here,  and  under  the  circumstances  under  which 
I  am  here." 

He  said  that  in  preaching  I  had  conflicted  with  the 
points  alluded  to  in  Winchester,  and  one  object  he  had 
in  view  in  inviting  me  to  his  house  was  to  discuss  this 
question,  and  he  would  esteem  it  as  a  favor  if  I  would 
do  so.  He  frankly  acknowledged  that  he  had  his  doubts 
sometimes,  and  wished  to  know  the  truth ;  he  did  not 
wish  to  deceive  himself,  or  be  deceived,  in  this  matter. 

"Well,  then,"  said  I,  "if  it  must  be  so,  bring  on 
your  book,  and  let  us  see  those  strong  points."  The 
book  came,  and  he  turned  to  the  spot  and  read.  "  But 
stop,"  said  I,  "  he  do  n't  quote  the  Scripture  correctly." 

"  O,  certainly,  he  must  do  that;  he  would  not  dare 
to  misquote^  for  he  would  know  that  if  he  did  he  would 
be  detected." 

"Well,  get  your  Bible,  and  turn  to  the  place  in 
Isaiah.  I  assure  you  that  there  is  a  condition  ex- 
pressed which  he  has  omitted,  and  gives  the  passage  a 
positive  and  unconditional  form." 

On  examination  he  found  it  so,  and  expressed  his 
surprise  that  such  a  man  as  Winchester  should  thus  de- 
liberately attempt  to  deceive  his  readers.  But  he  would 
try  another  passage,  and  another,  and  so  on  for  a  dozen 
or  so,  in  all  of  which  he  found  the  text  either  mutilated, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  299 

misquoted,  or  but  partially  quoted,  leaving  the  condi- 
tions upon  which  God  promised,  salvation  out  of  sight. 
Upon  this  he  threw  down  the  book,  and  said  he  would 
have  nothing  more  to  do  with  it.  Being  now  without 
that  false  prop  to  lean  upon  for  salvation,  he  sought  it 
in  Christ,  and  found  it,  to  the  joy  of  his  soul. 

This  Conference  year  was  a  successful  one.  Many 
souls  were  converted  to  God,  and  the  Church  seemed  to 
be  edified  and  built  up  in  the  most  holy  faith.  We  had 
some  disciplining  to  attend  to,  but  on  the  whole  it  was 
a  peaceful  year. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

THIS  year  (1825)  the  Pittsburg  Conference  met  for 
the  first  time,  after  its  organization,  in  the  city 
of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  Bishop  George  presiding. 

This  brought  together  parts  of  three  Conferences, 
the  Baltimore,  Ohio,  and  Genesee,  and  showed  the  dif- 
ference in  the  administration  of  the  same  rule  in 
different  Conferences,  and  also  different  usages.  The 
Baltimore  usage  was  decidedly  the  most  in  accordance 
with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  rules. 

In  the  Ohio,  and,  I  believe,  in  the  Genesee  Conference, 
the  rule  allowing  the  children  of  the  preachers  some- 
thing to  subsist  upon,  was,  and  had  been,  up  to  that  time, 
entirely  ignored.  Each  preacher  was,  if  married,  allowed 
two  hundred  dollars  for  himself  and  wife,  but  nothing 
for  his  children,  and  nothing  for  house-rent,  fuel,  or 
table  expenses,  as  the  rule  provided ;  but  simply 
"quarterage"  for  himself  and  wife,  with  his  moving  or 
traveling  expenses.  The  Baltimore  preachers  had  been 
allowed,  as  the  rule  provided,  for  self,  wife,  and  chil- 
dren ;  and  also  for  house-rent,  as  well  as  for  moving  and 


300  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

traveling  expenses.  This,  of  coarse,  made  a  great 
difference  in  our  claims  and  receipts. 

Again  :  owing  to  the  non-payment  of  the  bare  two 
hundred  dollars  in  the  Ohio  Conference,  the  preachers 
declined  to  take  up,  and  the  people  declined  to  give  a  fifth, 
or  Conference  collection  ;  while  the  Baltimore  preachers, 
whether  their  full  claims  had  been  paid  or  not,  brought 
up  their  Conference  collections,  and  very  respectable 
ones  at  that.  This  made  a  great  difference  in  the 
appearance  of  things  in  the  Minutes  and  records. 

Another  difference  lay  in  the  mode  of  appl}7ing  the 
Conference  funds.  The  Ohio  Conference  usage  was,  and 
it  seemed  it  was  so  in  most  of  the  other  Conferences,  to 
apply  these  funds  by  the  "  guess  and  allow  rule."  They 
had  a  system  for  which  there  was  and  is  no  rule  in 
arithmetic,  reason,  justice,  or  common  sense,  and  how 
it  ever  got  into  use  with  men  who  could  discriminate  in 
doctrinal  matters  to  the  splitting  of  a  hair,  was,  and 
still  remains  an  unsolved  and  unsolvable  mystery. 

The  rule  of  Discipline  plainly,  explicitly,  and  in 
accordance  with  the  laws  of  justice  and  equity,  allowed 
every  preacher  who  was  deficient  in  his  allowance,  his 
pro-rata  portion  of  the  Conference  funds,  if  they  were 
not  sufficient  to  pay  the  whole.  The  Ohio  usage  was 
to  bring  up  as  many  as  possible  of  the  lowest  in  re- 
ceipts to  a  common  level,  but  give  nothing  to  any  one 
whose  receipts  came  up  to  that  figure,  or  were  above 
it,  whatever  might  be  his  deficiency.  But  the  Balti- 
more preachers  had  been  in  the  habit  of  receiving  a 
pro-rata  dividend  or  percentage  on  their  deficiencies, 
whether  great  or  small.  Though  their  claims  or  allow- 
ances had  not  been  paid  on  their  respective  charges, 
yet,  knowing  that  they  would  be  entitled  to  a  dividend 
as  large,  and  perhaps  larger  than  the  amount  of  their 
fifth  collection,  they  were  ready  and  willing  to  ask, 
and  the   people,    knowing   this    also,   were   willing   to 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  301 

contribute.  In  Ohio,  under  the  other  usage,  neither 
preacher  nor  people  were  willing  to  do  this  till  their 
own  claims  were  adjusted. 

It  was  evident  to  all  that  the  two  usages  could  not 
obtain  in  the  same  Conference,  and,  of  course,  one  or 
the  other  must  be  adopted  ;  and  as  the  Baltimore  usage 
was  evidently  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  Discipline, 
as  well  as  justice  and  equity,  it  was  adopted  almost 
unanimously. 

There  was  still  another  question  to  be  settled. 
The  Baltimore  preachers  had  been  eighteen  months,  or 
nearly  so,  on  their  circuits,  and  had  held  six  quarterly- 
meetings,  and  claimed  and  received  one  and  a  half 
year's  pay,  while  the  Ohio  preachers  had  been  but  one 
year  on  their  circuits,  and  held  but  four  quarterly- 
meetings.  With  the  finances  we  had  no  trouble.  The 
Baltimore  preachers  were  allowed  their  claims  for  six 
quarters,  while  the  Ohioans  had  but  four.  But  with  the 
Bishop  another  question  arose.  The  rule  forbid  the 
continuance  of  a  preacher  longer  than  two  calendar 
years  ;  and  to  return  a  Baltimore  preacher  to  his  charge 
for  the  second  term,  would  continue  him  on  the  same 
work  over  two  calendar  years.  To  avoid  any  question 
on  this  score,  he  changed  the  presiding  elder  who  had 
been  three  times  appointed  to  the  same  district,  lest  ho 
should  go  longer  than  four  years  in  the  same  district, 
and  the  circuit  preachers  were  all  changed,  lest  they 
should  continue  longer  than  two  years.  Since  then, 
however,  Conferences  have  run  fifteen  months,  and  the 
preachers  held  five  quarterly-meetings,  and  they  have 
run  but  six  months,  and  held  but  two  quarterly-meet- 
ings. The  Bishops  have  decided  that  a  calendar  year, 
in  the  rule,  means  a  Conference  year,  whether  it  be  six, 
nine,  ten,  twelve,  or  eighteen  months,  and  that  a 
quarter  means  three  months.  Ten  or  eleven  months 
may  be  divided  into  four  quarters,  and  so  of  thirteen 


302  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

or  fourteen  months;  but  when  they  run  fifteen  or  six- 
teen months,  a  fifth  quarter  will  occur,  and  seventeen 
or  eighteen  months  will  make  six  quarters.  Our  An- 
nual Conferences  seldom  meet  in  exactly  twelve  months 
from  the  time  of  the  preceding  session,  which  a  calendar 
year  would  imply,  and  hence  the  necessity  of  calling 
the  year  a  Conference  year,  which  means  the  time 
from  one  Conference  to  another. 

At  this  Conference  I  was  appointed  one  of  the  Con- 
ference Stewards,  and  was  continued  one  of  that  board 
from  year  to  year  for  eight  years,  until  I  was  appointed 
to  a  district.  At  this  Conference  we  commenced  the 
publication  of  our  Conference  Minutes.  As  they  con- 
tained, in  addition  to  our  usual  statistics  and  appoint- 
ments, a  statement  of  our  finances  in  the  stewards' 
reports,  we  found  it  to  be  of  great  advantage  in  our 
quarterly  and  Annual  Conference  collections,  and  that 
the  preachers  would  be  the  gainers  in  the  way  of 
support,  if  they  could  not  sell  a  copy,  to  distribute  them 
gratuitously  among  our  people. 

At  this  Conference  (1825)  I  was  appointed  to  Mer- 
cer circuit,  it  being  convenient  to  my  home.  A  3Toung 
brother,  by  the  name  of  Stevenson,  was  my  colleague. 
He  was  pious,  zealous,  and  persevering.  In  the  course 
of  the  year  he  had  a  run  of  fever,  and  when,  from  its 
effects,  he  was  out  of  his  head,  he  would  sing,  pray} 
and  preach  as  if  in  a  congregation.  If  requested  to  be 
quiet,  as  this  exercise  might  injure  his  health,  he  would 
reply,  "How  can  I  keep  silence  when  sinners  are 
perishing  around  me?" 

Mercer  circuit,  at  that  time,  was  but  a  part  of  the 
old  Erie  circuit,  which  I  rode  six  years  before.  It  lay 
in  the  north-west  part  of  Mercer  and  south-west  of 
Crawford  county,  Pennsylvania,  and  included  the 
town  of  Mercer,  and  also  Salem,  from  which  Bishop 
Koberts  started  into  the   itinerancy.     At  this   time  it 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  303 

contained  twenty-four  appointments,  to  be  filled  in  four 
weeks. 

Here,  again,  my  combative  powers,  as  they  were 
called,  were  brought  into  requisition.  At  Salem  we 
had  a  church  built  of  hewed  logs,  and  the  largest  as 
well  as  the  oldest  society  on  the  circuit.  The  quar- 
terly-meetings, held  here  for  several  years,  had  been 
disturbed  by  some  young  men  from  a  Seceder  congre- 
gation, about  three  miles  distant;  and  no  efforts  made 
by  preachers  or  people  could  prevail  in  preserving 
order.  Our  brethren  appealed  to  me,  saying,  "  If  you 
can  't  break  up  this  rowdyism  we  shall  not  be  able  to 
hold  any  more  quarterly-meetings  here." 

On  Saturday,  the  first  day  of  the  quarterly-meeting, 
I  mentioned  the  state  of  things,  and  requested  the 
friends  to  bring  plent}'  of  lights,  because  those  who 
perpetrate  deeds  of  darkness  do  not  like  the  light. 
That  day  and  night  passed  off  in  peace  and  quiet; 
but  on  Sunday  night  the  rowdies  came  in  force.  I 
gave  them  a  friendly  and  good-natured  talk,  stated 
the  law  in  such  cases,  having  taken  the  advice  of  the 
most  prominent  lawyer  in  the  county,  and  the  conse- 
quence if  disturbance  occurred,  and  that  we  must  and 
would  have  order.  But  all  this  they  disregarded,  and 
by  their  actions  bade  me  defiance. 

After  preaching  a  large  number  of  mourners  came 
forward  for  prayers,  and  kneeled  at  benches  in  front  of 
the  pulpit.  I  stood  watching  the  rowdies,  while  others 
were  singing  and  praying  with  the  mourners.  Our 
rule  and  usage  was  for  the  men  and  women  to  sit 
apart,  one  on  each  side  of  the  house.  All  seemed  to  be 
quiet  for  some  time;  but  at  length  a  young  man  went 
over  to  the  women's  side,  and  made  a  very  indecent 
assault  upon  a  girl,  who  resisted  him.  At  this  I  stepped 
upon  the  bench  between  two  of  the  mourners,  and 
with  one  leap  cleared  them,  and  at  the  next  step  I  had 


304  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  rowdy  by  the  breast,  and  was  running  him  back- 
ward toward  the  door. 

He  made  a  desperate  spring  and  wTrenched  himself 
from  my  grasp,  and  sprang  behind  the  door  where  he 
had  left  his  hat,  showing  by  this  that  he  was  bent  upon 
mischief,  and  went  out  of  the  door  in  double-quick 
time.  I  then  placed  two  stout  brethren  in  the  aisle, 
and  told  them  to  keep  the  men  and  boys  upon  their 
own  side  of  the  house,  and  took  my  stand  again  before 
the  pulpit. 

It  was  not  long  before  I  saw  a  large,  stout  man  edg- 
ing his  way  on  to  the  women's  side,  and  refusing  the 
entreaties  of  my  guard  to  keep  on  his  own  side  of  the 
aisle,  and  showing  signs  of  violence.  I  made  another 
leap  and  caught  him  by  the  elbow,  and  gave  him  a 
whirl  toward  the  men's  side,  and  said  to  him  rather 
sharply,  "That  is  your  side;  I  put  these  men  here  to 
keep  the  men  upon  their  own  side  of  the  house."  He 
looked  surprised  at  being  turned  round  so  quickly,  and 
moved  to  his  place  rather  sullenly.  As  I  left  to  go 
again  to  my  stand,  he  drew  his  fist  to  strike  me,  as  I 
was  afterward  told,  but  some  stout  brethren  seeing 
my  movements,  took  courage  to  assist  me,  and  caught 
his  arm,  and  told  him  to  behave  himself  or  he  should 
leave  the  house.  By  this  time  he  seemed  to  conclude 
that  "  prudence  was  the  better  part  of  valor,"  and  took 
his  seat  and  behaved  quietly. 

Soon  after  this  a  raving  young  man  came  up,  wTho 
had  just  learned  that  his  sister  was  at  the  mourners' 
bench,  among  those  wrho  were  seeking  religion.  I  met 
him  and  asked  what  he  wanted. 

He  said  he  would  have  his  sister  out  of  that  place, 
or  he  would — 

"Stop,"  said  I,  "you  must  use  no  violence  here. 
You  be  quiet,  and  you  may  speak  to  your  sister,  and 
if  she  wishes  to  go,  she  can  go,  of  course.     We  did  not 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  305 

compel  her  to  come  up  for  prayers;  she  came  of  her 
own  accord,  and  we  do  not  compel  any  one  to  stay; 
she  can  go  if  she  pleases,  but  you  can  't  be  allowed  to 
take  her  away  by  force.  You  are  not  her  father  nor 
her  husband.  She  is  as  much  her  own  mistress  as  you 
are  master  of  yourself. 

He  spoke  to  her;  but  she  refused  to  go  with  him. 
He  said  he  would  go  and  leave  her. 

"  Well,  go  if  you  will ;  I  can  go  home  alone." 

"But  I'll  take  the  horse." 

"You  have  no  right  to  take  my  horse;  but  if  you 
do  I  can  go  home  afoot.  I  am  determined  to  save  my 
soul,  if  I  can,  and  shan't  leave  this  place  till  I  obtain 
pardon  for  my  sins." 

At  this  he  threatened  to  get  help  to  drag  her  out. 
I  told  him  he  could  not  do  that,  and  as  she  had  de- 
clined to  leave,  he  would  please  to  stand  back  and 
make  no '  disturbance,  or  he  would  be  taken  care  of. 
Fearing  rough  handling,  he  stood  back  in  sullen  silence. 

It  was  not  long  before  she  was  happily  converted 
to  God.  She  took  a  good  hearty  shout,  then  went 
home  with  her  brother,  who  had  waited  for  her,  not- 
withstanding his  threats  to  the  contrary.  But  this  put 
an  end  to  rowdyism  in  that  place. 

Three  miles  west  of  Salem,  at  Greenville,  we  had 
another  log  church,  where  similar  disturbances  had 
been  in  vogue.  We  held  a  two-days'  meeting  there, 
and  on  Sunday  night,  after  inviting  seekers  forward  for 
prayers,  and  the  prayer-meeting  was  well  under  way, 
I  saw  two  men  on  the  women's  side  of  the  house,  and 
went  to  them  and  said,  mildly,  "  G-entlemen,  we  wish 
the  men  to  occupy  the  other  side  of  the  house;  you  will 
please  do  so." 

One  of  them  spoke  gentlemanly,  and  said  he  wished 
to  find  his  wife  to  go  home.  "Yery  well,"  said  I,  "you 
can  do  so." 

26 


306  *  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

But  the  other  spoke  roughly  and  like  a  rowdy,  and 
said  "he  guessed  he  had  a  right  to  take  care  of  his 
wife  wherever  he  pleased." 

"Well,  if  you  are  afraid  to  trust  your  wife  among 
the  women  you  had  better  take  her  and  go  home." 

With  this  he  stepped  off  the  benches  into  the  aisle, 
and  drew  back  his  fist  and  said,  "  Come  down  here  and 
I  '11  give  it  to  you." 

At  this  I  stepped  down,  and  took  him  by  the  breast 
and  ran  him  back  to  and  out  of  the  door.  There  were 
three  or  four  steps  to  reach  the  ground,  which  was 
frozen,  and  he  went  backward,  but  how  he  landed  I 
never  knew.  I  shut  the  door  and  set  my  foot  against 
it  to  keep  him  out,  when  his  wife  came  and  asked  if 
she  might  go  out.  "  Certainly,"  said  I,  "if  you  wish 
to,"  and  opened  the  door  for  her  to  pass  out.  At  this 
two  good  stout  brethren,  seeing  what  had  occurred, 
came  up,  to  whom  I  gave  the  door  in  charge;  but  the 
rowdy  did  not  return,  and  no  other  one  gave  us  any 
trouble. 

But  the  next  morning  the  fellow  who  went  out  of 
the  door  in  such  a  hurry  was  making  a  fuss,  and 
threatening  to  send  the  constable  after  me,  after  I  had 
left  town,  on  a  charge  of  an  assault  and  battery.  This 
might  not  be  very  agreeable  in  name,  besides  the 
trouble  and  expense  of  returning,  and  probably  miss- 
ing my  appointment  for  the  next  da}T.  So,  to  put  a 
quietus  upon  him,  I  filed  a  complaint  against  him  and 
had  him  arrested  for  disturbing  the  meeting.  In  that 
State,  at  that  time,  such  an  offense  was  not  finable  by 
the  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but  the  offender  must  be  held 
to  bail  to  answer  an  indictment  before  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas.  This,  if  he  were  acquitted,  would  cost 
him,  for  counsel  and  all,  some  twenty-five  or  thirty 
dollars;  but  if  convicted,  a  fine  or  imprisonment  would 
be  added. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  307 

His  friends  on  hearing  the  evidence,  and  knowing 
that  he  must  go  to  court,  interposed  a  plea  of  mere}', 
before  the  Justice  decided,  so  as  to  have  the  matter 
settled.  I  replied  that  I  did  not  want  Bis  money,  nor 
to  put  him  to  expense  or  trouble,  and  that  if  he  would 
acknowledge  that  he  was  in  the  wrong,  and  promise 
not  to  disturb  us  any  more,  and  pay  the  cost  thus  far, 
I  would  drop  the  matter ;  all  I  wanted  was  not  to  be 
disturbed  in  our  worship,  and  this  being  our  legal 
right,  I  intended  to  have  it.  To  this  he  agreed,  and 
the  Justice  so  entered  it  on  his  docket.  '  Then  the  Jus- 
tice and  the  Constable  gave  in  their  costs.  But  this 
put  an  end  to  disturbances  in  that  place. 

One  of  my  appointments,  about  four  miles  from 
Mercer,  was  called  New  Ireland,  from  its  being  settled 
by  a  colony  from  the  Green  Isle.  The  people  were 
mostly  poor  and  illiterate,  but  pious  and  industrious, 
though  not  clear  of  the  superstition  of  the  Irish  about 
fairies,  ghosts,  and  hobgoblins. 

Several  families  of  them,  when  they  first  came  to 
Mercer,  and  before  they  had  prepared  their  cabins,  in 
their  new  and  woody  homes,  occupied  a  vacant  house 
north  of  the  town,  and  not  far  from  a  mill-pond.  On 
the  first  night,  as  dark  set  in,  the  fire-flies,  or  lightning- 
bugs,  which  abounded  in  the  valley  along  the  mill 
stream,  commenced  their  usual  gambols,  and  the  at- 
mosphere appeared  to  be  full  of  them.  At  the  same 
time  the  bull-frogs  in  the  mill-pond  began  their  nightly 
serenade  with  all  sorts  of  unknown  noises,  from  the 
grum  thunder  of  the  patriarch  of  the  family  to  the 
lowest  squeak  of  the  smallest  of  the  tribe. 

To  the  new-comers,  these  sights  and  sounds  were 
new.  None  of  their  friends,  by  letter,  before  they 
came,  nor  by  parole,  after  they  had  arrived,  had  men- 
tioned them,  and  knowing  nothing  of  such  things 
"  at   home,"  they  could   imagine   nothing  but  fairies. 


308  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

They  were  certain  that  the  fairies  had  attacked  them 
in  greater  force  than  they  had  ever  heard  or  dreamed 
of  in  their  own  country.  The  bellowing  of  the  frogs 
they  imagined  were  the  words  of  command  of  chiefs 
and  the  replies  of  the  lesser  imps,  and  the  flashes  of 
light  they  thought  were  the  flashes  of  their  miniature 
guns.  To  guard  against  the  fatal  consequences,  they 
darkened  the  windows,  and  barricaded  the  door.  !No 
one  dared  to  leave  the  house  and  run  twenty  rods  to 
the  nearest  neighbor  or  friend  for  succor,  but  spent  the 
night  in  the  most  tormenting  fear,  lest  they  should  all  be 
murdered  by  the  invisible  little  imps  of  the  bad  place. 

At  length  the  morning  came.  Never  was  a  morning 
more  welcome  to  a  frightened  people.  The  frogs  shut 
up  their  hideous  mouths,  and  the  fire-flies  could  no 
more  flash  the  light,  and  silence  and  quiet  once  more 
reigned  in  their  new  abode.  As  soon  as  possible,  the 
men  went  to  their  friends  in  town  with  the  most  bitter 
complaints  for  their  having  advised  them  to  come  to 
such  a  country  as  this,  lamenting  that  they  had  come 
so  far,  and  brought  their  families,  to  be  murdered 
by  the  fairies.  They  would  not  stay  here,  so  they 
wouldn't,  but  start  for  homo  that  very  day. 

Their  friends  stood  aghast,  querying  whether  the 
new-comers  had  become  crazy  or  not.  But,  finally, 
recovering  from  the  first  shock,  they  inquired  what 
was  the  matter. 

"Why,  we  never  saw  the  like  of  this  for  fairies  in 
all  our  lives." 

"Fairies,  man,  there's  no  fairies  in  this  country." 

"Indade,  and  there  is.  Didn't  we  hear  them  all 
night,  and  see  the  flash  of  their  little  guns  as  they 
were  trying  to  shoot  us?  Jist  come  down  to  the  house 
and  we'll  show  ye.  And  the  women  and  childers  are 
nearly  dead  with  fear,  and  they  declare  they  will  not 
stay  another  night  in  such  a  country  as  this." 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  309 

So  down  they  went  and  heard  the  whole  group, 
men,  women,  and  children,  pour  out  their  bitter  com- 
plaints and  anathemas  against  such  a  country  for 
fairies.     "The  like  of  it  auld  Ireland  never  see." 

Their  friends  assured  them  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  a  fairy  in  this  country;  that  they  must  have  been 
dreaming  or  frightened  at  some  illusion;  or  possibly 
some  mischievous  boys  had  been  playing  off  tricks 
upon  them.  "Tell  us  how  they  looked  or  what  they 
were  like." 

So  they  described,  as  well  as  they  could,  the  noises 
and  the  flashes  of  light;  when  the  real  cause  of  the 
alarm  flashed  into  the  minds  of  their  friends,  and 
caused  a  hearty  laugh.  They  took  the  frightened  men 
down  to  the  pond  and  showed  them  the  frogs,  some  of 
which  happened  then  to  open  their  terrible  throats, 
and  at  night  they  caught  some  of  the  fire-flies,  and 
showed  them  the  little  innocent  creatures  and  the 
way  they  made  the  light.  This  quieted  their  fears,  and 
they  laughed  over  their  own  ignorance  and  folly,  and 
became  satisfied  with  the  country,  and  made  a  good 
settlement. 

There  was  an  eccentric  genius  in  the  circuit,  near 
Mercer,  by  the  name  of  Ben.  Stokely,  who  figured 
largely  in  public  affairs,  and  no  little  in  religious  mat- 
ters. He  was  in  early  life  a  Methodist,  and  came  first 
to  the  country  to  survey  out  the  State  lands.  By 
working  on  Sundays  he  had  lost  his  religion;  and 
though  he  retained,  in  his  way,  an  attachment  to  its 
forms  and  principles,  yet  he  chose  to  be  a  man  of  the 
world  rather  than  a  Christian. 

His  present  wife,  and  two  daughters  by  a  former 
marriage,  were  members  of  the  Church,  and  for  their 
sakes  in  part,  but  principally  from  his  own  love  of  com- 
pany, he  invited  the  preachers  to  his  house,  and  showed 
great  solicitude  in  having  their  company.     But  we  pre- 


310  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

ferred  generally  to  keep  aloof  from  him,  on  account  of 
some  of  his  peculiarities.  He  would,  if  possible,  quiz, 
question,  and  dispute,  always  talcing  the  opposite  side, 
be  his  adversary  who  he  might;  and  if  the  preacher 
showed  any  impatience,  or,  as  he  would  have  it,  got 
mad  or  out  of  temper,  he  would  put  him  down  for 
being  no  better  than  himself. 

I  had  shunned  his  house,  though  I  wished  to  visit 
the  members  of  my  charge  who  were  in  his  family. 
But  he  had  heard  me  several  times,  and  he  was  bent 
upon  having  a  visit  from  me.  To  try  my  mettle,  I 
suppose,  or  see  if  my  patience  would  give  out,  as 
he  alleged  many  others'  had  done,  he  fell  upon  this 
plan : 

There  was  to  be'  a  ball  party  in  town,  and  some 
young  men  had  asked  him  if  they  might  invite  his 
daughters  to  attend  the  ball,  and  if  they  might  go,  on 
the  Monday  night  following.  He  did  not  like  to  say 
no,  as  he  was  often  in  quest  of  votes  at  the  polls, 
though  in  reality  he  meant  so.  He  said,  therefore, 
they  might  go  if  they  wanted  to  do  so,  on  being  once 
asked,  but  they  should  not  be  asked  a  second  time  if 
they  refused  the  first  invitation.  But  to  forestall  them, 
he  sent  a  local  preacher  to  me  with  a  special  invita- 
tion to  preach  at  his  house  on  the  same  night  of  the 
ball,  and  to  have  me  give  it  out  in  the  congregation  in 
town.  I  knew  nothing  of  the  ball  matter,  but  as  he 
had  often  invited  me,  and  I  had  as  often  declined,  I 
concluded  to  go  this  time  and  give  him  a  plain  talk, 
and  also  to  visit  the  family. 

The  congregation  was  large  and  attentive,  and  the 
Word  was  attended  by  the  Divine  influence,  so  much  so 
that  he  had  to  leave  the  room,  or,  to  appearance,  come 
down  on  to  the  floor  and  cry  for  mercy.  He  would  go 
out-of-doors,  and  then  return  to  the  hall  and  listen  as 
long  as  he  could  stand  it,  when  he  would  retreat  again. 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  311 

So  he  advanced  and  retreated  several  times  before  the 
meeting  closed. 

The  girls  were  not,  of  course,  invited  to  the  ball, 
after  it  was  known  that  I  was  to  preacli  at  their  home 
the  same  night,  nor  would  they  have  gone  if  they  had 
been  and  no  meeting  in  the  way.  This  their  father 
was  well  aware  of,  but  wished  to  make  the  matter 
doubly  sure,  and  also  to  secure  a  visit  from  me.  He 
insisted  upon  my  making  another  appointment  for  the 
next  round  on  the  circuit,  and  to  this  I  agreed  upon 
condition  that  he  would  keep  his  seat  and  not  be  kick- 
ing up  the  fire,  nor  running  out  of  the  door  in  time  of 
preaching,  to  which  he  assented. 

At  the  second  meeting  I  saw  his  agitation  and  un- 
easiness. Before  I  left  him  I  said  to  him,  "You  will 
have  me  here,  and  one  of  three  things  must  be  the 
consequence:  you  must  get  religion,  forbid  me  your 
house,  or  have  a  hard  time  of  it."  "Well,"  said  he, 
"I'll  take  the  hard  time  of  it,  for  I  will  do  neither  of 
the  others." 

The  next  morning  I  discovered  the  same  restless 
uneasiness  while  at  family  prayer.  The  fact  was,  he 
knew  his  duty,  and  having  these  services  under  his 
own  roof  reminded  him  of  it,  and  his  conscience  dis- 
turbed him.  In  his  office  I  said  to  him,  "'Squire,  I 
suppose  you  like  to  be  respected  in  your  official  capac- 
ity?"    "Yes,"  he  replied. 

"Well,  so  do  I.  You  invite  me  to  your  house  as  a 
minister  of  the  Gospel,  and  as  such  I  esteem  it  to  be 
my  duty  to  pray  with  the  family,  and  due  respect  im- 
plies proper  attention  to  the  service.  Now  I  will  come 
once  more,  but  if  you  continue  this  restlessness  and 
running  out-of-doors  in  prayer-time,  I  shall  not  come 
again."  This  I  said  between  ourselves,  intending  it  to 
remain  there. 

But  at  breakfast,  before  his  family,  he  told  them  he 


312  A  WESTERN  PIONEER. 

had  a  promise  of  one  more  visit  from  me;  but  that  if 
he  did  not  behave  better  at  prayer-time  I  would  come 
no  more.  He  would  make  no  promises,  but  would 
make  sure  of  the  visit,  and  then  he  would  see  about  it. 
He  never  troubled  me  again  on  that  score;  but  con- 
tinued in  other  ways  to  try  my  patience,  to  see  if  I 
would  get  out  of  humor,  as  he  said  some  preachers  had. 

At  one  time  I  went  there  sick  and  under  the 
influence  of  medicine,  so  that  I  could  not  pray  at  night. 
He  said  he  was  glad  of  it,  and  hoped  I  would  always 
be  sick  when  I  came  there.  But  the  next  morning  the 
ladies  gave  me  the  hint,  when  breakfast  was  ready,  for 
prayers,  and  I  went  to  his  office-door,  being  one  room 
in  his  house,  and  said,  "'  Squire,  please  come  to  prayers, 
as  breakfast  is  ready." 

"O,"  said  he,  "I  was  in  hopes  you  were  sick  again 
this  morning." 

"No,"  said  I,  "thank  God,  I  am  well  enough  to 
pray,"  and  returned  to  the  room  where  the  family 
were,  and  he  came  too. 

In  June,  1826,  I  was  directed  by  Svvayze,  my  presid- 
ing elder,  to  meet  him  at  Franklin,  on  the  Alleghany 
River,  and  accompany  him  and  some  others  to  a  camp- 
meeting  some  distance  east  of  that  river,  on  the  slope 
of  the  mountains.  The  Saturday  previous  being  the 
24th,  the  anniversary  of  the  birth  of  St.  John  the  Bap- 
tist, I  preached  for  the  Masons  in  Mercer;  preached 
there  again  on  Sunday,  and  on  Monday,  after  preach- 
ing at  New  Ireland,  where  Stokely  met  me  in  the  rain, 
I  went  home  with  him  to  rest  over  till  Wednesday. 

As  I  was  about  leaving  on  Wednesday  morning,  he 
said  he  dreamed  the  night  before  that  he  gave  me  a 
silver  dollar;  and  to  do  so  he  took  this  method:  He 
presented  me  with  an  account,  in  which  he  gave  me 
credit  for  his  ratio  of  the  Masonic  sermon,  of  a  sermon 
on  Sunday  on  moral  ethics,  and  the  sermon  on  Mon- 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  313 

day;  and  for  my  visit  to  his  house,  my  good  company, 
and  for  four  family  prayers,  and  for  five  blessings  asked 
at  his  table,  with  each  a  price  affixed,  corresponding 
with  his  taste;  all  amounting  to  three  dollars,  twelve  and 
a  half  cents. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  paper  were  his  charges 
for  going  to  hear  me,  for  five  meals,  two  nights'  lodg- 
ing, and  sixty  ears  of  corn  for  my  horse,  all  amounting 
to  two  dollars  and  twelve  and  a  half  cents;  and  cash  to 
balance  one  dollar,  which  he  handed  over. 

Wednesday  night  found  me  at  Franklin,  in  company 
with  W.  Swayze,  presiding  elder,  Joseph  Barris,  .Robert 
C.  Hatton,  and  I.  H.  Tacket,  preachers,  with  a  new  con- 
vert at  a  recent  camp-meeting,  who  wanted  more  of  the 
good  religion,  enough  to  travel  one  hundred  miles  or 
more  to  obtain  it,  and  on  the  way  we  passed  for  six 
preachers. 

The  June  rains  had  been  falling  for  a  week,  and 
were  still  falling  heavily  The  river  was  overflowing 
its  banks.  The  crossing  of  the  river  in  an  old-fashioned 
flat-boat  was  rather  dangerous  with  six  horses  in.  But 
reaching  the  landing  on  the  east  shore,  we  took  the 
Bellefontaine  turnpike.  The  ground  was  so  covered 
with  water  that  it  overflowed  the  pike  in  many  places, 
and  in  some  instances  had  cut  sluices  through  it,  being 
clay,  the  crossing  of  which  sometimes  was  troublesome, 
if  not  dangerous. 

The  people  along  the  road,  who  were  "few  and  far 
between,"  who  saw  us,  supposed  that  we  were  all 
preachers,  and  circulated  a  report  that  six  preachers 
were  on  their  way  to  the  camp-meeting.  They  had 
never  seen  over  three  preachers  at  once  in  that  country 
before,  and  the  idea  of  six  of  the  cloth,  at  one  time  and 
place,  roused  up  every  body  to  attend  the  meeting 
who  could  possibly  get  there,  expecting  wonders,  if 
not  miracles. 

27 


314  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

We  stopped  at  Shippenville  for  refreshments,  wet, 
cold,  and  hungry.  The  landlord  showed  every  dispo- 
sition to  render  us  comfortable,  and  kindled  a  fire  in 
the  bar-room,  which  was  also  the  sitting-room,  and 
we  spread  our  overcoats  on  chairs  around  it,  while 
waiting  for  dinner,  to  dry  them. 

The  novelty  of  seeing  six  preachers  in  one  company 
brought  both  men  and  boys  from  the  farm-house  and 
mechanics'-shop,  some  with  their  aprons  on,  to  see  the 
sight.  Some  of  them  contented  themselves  by  looking 
in  at  the  door  or  window;  but  others,  more  bold,  made 
some  errand  into  the  room,  so  that  they  could  enjoy  a 
better  sight. 

We  reached  a  Dutch  farm-house  that  night,  where, 
between  bugs  and  fleas,  we  had  but  little  sleep.  The 
fare,  except  for  our  horses,  was  also  of  the  coarsest 
kind,  but  being  the  best  they  knew  how  to  prepare, 
and  seeming  to  be  done  with  pleasure,  we  were  thankful 
for  it. 

The  next  day,  Friday,  we  reached  the  camp-ground 
before  noon.  Every  thing  was  drenched  with  rain,  the 
ground,  the  tents,  and  their  contents;  but,  as  the  rain 
had  held  up  for  some  hours,  and  the  sun  shone  clear, 
the  prospect  of  good  weather  was  cheering.  We  accord- 
ingly went  to  work  with  good-will  and  zealous  hearts. 

The  people  came  to  the  meeting  by  all  manner  and 
modes  of  conveyance ;  some  in  wagons,  some  on  sleds, 
which  slid  along  over  the  mud  and  wet  leaves  of  the 
dense  forest  with  more  ease  than  would  have  been  sup- 
posed by  "outsiders;"  and  some  came  on  horseback, 
and  not  a  few  on  foot,  and  barefoot  at  that,  having  their 
shoes  and  stockings  in  their  hands,  to  put  on  when  upon 
the  ground. 

There  was  preaching  that  afternoon  and  night,  and 
on  Saturday.  We  four  strangers  preached  in  turn, 
Tacket  being  the  preacher  of  the  circuit.     On  Sunday 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  315 

we  did  the  same  way,  only  that  Tacket  preached,  mak- 
ing five  sermons  on  that  day. 

I  had  tried  several  times,  on  both  days,  to  start 
prayer-meetings,  without  success;  for  while  any  of  us 
strangers  were  in  the  exercise,  either  in  the  circle,  the 
tents,  or  the  altar,  the  most  of  the  membership  seemed 
to  be  shy  and  fearful,  and  kept  aloof;  but  as  soon  as  we 
left  they  would  go  in  and  work  like  men  and  women  of 
God.     This  was  to  me  a  mystery  that  I  could  not  solve. 

On  Sunday  afternoon,  when  there  appeared  to  be  a 
good  state  of  feeling  upon  the  ground,  I  made  another 
attempt  to  get  up  a  prayer- meeting,  but  with  the  same 
results.  I  left  and  went  into  the  preachers'  tent,  and 
spoke  of  it  as  very  singular,  and  wondered  what  was 
the  matter,  when  some  one  said,  more  playfully  than 
otherwise,  as  I  thought,  "Perhaps  they  are  afraid  of  us, 
because  we  are  Yankees." 

This  started  Hatton,  who  could  crack  a  joke  with  an 
apparent  good  conscience,  which  would  cause  me  to 
blush  and  mar  my  peace  of  mind.  Sallying  out  in  quest 
of  game,  he  approached  the  first  sensible,  good-natured 
looking  man  he  saw,  and  entered  into  a  friendly  and 
sociable  chat.  This  freedom  and  familiarity  seemed  to 
inspire  the  man  with  confidence  enough  to  speak  freely, 
who  inquired,  with  apparent  amazement: 

"Where  in  the  world  did  you  all  come  from?  We 
never  heard  such  preaching  in  all  our  lives!" 

"Why,"  said  Hatton,  "we  are  a  set  of  Yankees." 

"Good  God!"  exclaimed  the  man,  "are  you  a  Yan- 
kee?" 

"Yes;  I  am  right  from  the  Yankee  land,  in  Erie 
county,  at  North-East,  and  have  a  Yankee  wife." 

"Well,  the  elder,  Swayze,  is  he  a  Yankee?" 

"Yes;  he  came  from  New  England,  and  has  a  Yan- 
kee wife,  and  lives  among  Yankees  in  Ohio." 

"  And  that  big  fellow,  Brunson,  is  he  a  Yankee?" 


316  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"Yes;  he  was  Yankee-born,  and  lives  out  in  Ohio, 
among  the  Yankees,  also." 

"And  that  little  fellow,  Barris,  is  he  a  Yankee?" 

"Yes;  he  came  from  among  the  Yankees  in  Chau- 
tauqua county,  and  he  came  down  on  the  Alleghany 
Biver  with  his  horse." 

Upon  this  the  man  started  back,  in  apparent  horror, 
and  exclaimed,  "My  God,  we  never  saw  so  many  Yan- 
kees together  before  !"  and  drew  off,  as  if  afraid  of 
being  contaminated  by  the  contact. 

Hatton  could  stand  it  no  longer,  but  broke  for  the 
tent,  and  throwing  himself  upon  the  bed,  took  a  hearty 
laugh,  and  then  told  us  of  his  adventure. 

That  night  while  Swayze  was  seating  the  congrega- 
tion, being  nearly  as  jocose  as  Hatton,  he  said,  "I  un- 
derstand that  there  is  some  inquiry  and  anxiety  on  the 
ground  to  know  what  countrymen  we  are.  I  '11  tell 
you — we  are  a  set  of  Yankees.  But  you  need  n't  be 
afraid;  we  don't  want  you  or  your  property,  but  we 
may  show  the  devil  a  Yankee  trick  before  we  leave." 

This  aroused  the  curiosity  of  the  people  to  its  high- 
est pitch,  and  from  that  time  till  we  left  the  ground 
every  eye  and  ear  seemed  to  be  open  to  see  and  hear  it. 
There  was  no  sensible  diminution  of  the  congregation 
on  Monday,  but  as  if  spell -bound  all  stayed  to  the  last. 
Many  were  being  awakened  and  converted,  and  be- 
lievers, not  only  Methodists  but  Presbyterians,  amid 
all  their  curiosity  to  see  the  trick  upon  the  devil, 
seemed  to  drink  deep  at  the  well  of  salvation. 

On  Monday  night  Swayze,  to  vary  the  exercises,  so 
arranged  as  to  have  four  short  sermons,  from  the  four 
parts  of  the  same  text,  and  by  four  different  speakers. 
I  do  not  suppose  that  he  had  thought  of  the  trick 
after  he  announced  it;  all  he  meant  by  it  was,  he  hoped 
to  see  many  souls  converted  and  thereby  trick  the 
devil  out  of  his  prey,  as  a  trick  usually  means  for  one 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  317 

to  take  from  another  by  some  kind  of  management. 
But  the  people  hadn't  forgotten  it,  and,  therefore, 
what  followed  seemed  to  thorn  to  be  the  trick. 

Swayze  began  from  the  stand,  from  Luke  xiv,  16, 17, 
"A  certain  man  made  a  great  supper,  and  bade  many: 
and  sent  his  servant  at  supper-time,  to  say  to  them 
that  were  bidden,  Come;  for  all  things  are  now  ready," 
and  preached  about  fifteen  minutes  and  sat  down. 
His  usual  time  at  such  meetings  was  from  an  hour  to 
an  hour  and  a  half,  and  to  see  him  sit  down  so  soon 
excited  great  wonder. 

Before  they  could  solve  the  mystery  I  was  up  on  a 
stump  on  the  outside  of  the  men,  and  announced  the 
next  part  from  the  eighteenth  to  the  twentieth  verses, 
inclusive,  "  And  they  all  with  one  consent  began  to 
make  excuse,"  etc.,  and  talked  my  fifteen  minutes  on  the 
excuses.  By  this  time  I  could  see  that  the  people  be- 
gun to  penetrate  the  matter,  and  to  show  signs  of  be- 
ing pleased.     I  sat  down. 

Then  Barris  sprang  up  on  a  log  in  the  rear  of  the 
entire  audience,  and  took  the  twenty-first  and  twenty- 
second  verses,  "So  that  servant  came,  and  shewed  his 
lord  these  things.  Then  the  master  of  the  house,  being 
angry,"  etc.,  and  talked  his  fifteen  minutes.  By  this 
time  the  people  had  turned  principally  round  to  re- 
ceive the  fire  from  the  rear,  and  showed  more  signs 
of  gratification. 

But  Hatton,  who  was  to  have  taken  his  stand  out- 
side of  the  women,  was  not  in  his  place.  He  said 
afterward  that  he  could  not  control  his  risibles  long 
enough  to  keep  from  laughing,  and,  therefore,  kept 
within  the  tent,  peeking  through  the  cracks  to  see 
how  the  thing  went  off. 

Barris  seeing  that  Hatton  was  not  at  his  post,  after 
finishing  his  own  task,  took  up  Hatton's  part  of  the 
text,  verses  twenty -three  and  twenty-four,  proclaiming, 


318  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

"For  I  say  unto  you,  that  none  of  those  men  that 
were  bidden,  shall  taste  of  my  supper."  In  the  mean 
time  Swayze,  seeing  that  Hatton  was  among  the  miss- 
ing, rose  up  on  the  stand  and  took  up  the  same  part 
of  the  text,  so  that  two  speakers,  one  in  front  and  the 
other  in  the  rear,  were  preaching  to  the  same  audi- 
ence from  the  same  text,  and  at  the  same  time.  But 
as  Swayze's  voice  was  rather  the  loudest,  and  as  he 
had  the  advantage  of  the  stand,  he  was  heard  by  more 
than  Barris  was. 

Barris,  in  the  mean  time,  was  moving  round  to 
reach  the  position  assigned  to  Hatton,  talking  as  he 
went.  A  crowd  of  raw  Dutch  boys  and  girls  now  com- 
prehending the  movement,  gathered  in  before  him  and 
were  retreating  backward  as  he  advanced,  when  a  large 
Dutch  boy  stepped  into  a  hole  from  whence  the  dirt 
had  been  taken  to  cover  the  fire-stand,  and  fell  against 
one  of  the  forks  forming  the  stand,  and  brought  down 
upon  him,  say,  half  a  bushel  of  live  coals  of  fire,  as 
he  lay  upon  the  ground.  Upon  this  he  cried  out  in  his 
agony  and  fright,  "  Hell-fire !"  and  sprang  to  his  feet  and 
ran  for  the  woods  outside  of  the  tents,  yelping,  "  The 
tuyfel,  the  tuyfel !"  and  a  host  of  boys  following  and 
laughing  to  see  what  they  called  the  fun ;  but  poor 
Hans  thought  there  was  no  fun  in  thus  being  burned. 

At  this  Barris's  risibles  gave  way,  and  he  could  say 
no  more,  but  sat  down  and  hid  his  face ;  though,  as 
soon  as  he  could  compose  himself  enough,  he  went 
round  to  the  stand. 

This  left  Swayze  in  possession  of  both  the  subject  and 
the  audience,  and  as  but  few  had  seen  the  catastrophe 
which  befell  the  boy,  all  eyes  and  ears  were  how  turned 
toward  the  stand.  As  Swayze  was  at  home  upon  this 
subject,  for  half  an  hour  or  more  he  poured  out  the 
dreadful  anathemas  of  God  upon  those  who  refused 
to  come  to  the  feast  that  was  provided  for  them  in  the 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  319 

Gospel,  and  wound  up  by  inviting  mourners  in  to  the 
altar,  for  prayers,  of  whom  a  large  number  came,  and 
were  soundly  converted  to  God. 

This  passed  for  the  Yankee  trick  upon  the  devil. 
I  had  been  in  several  such  feats  with  Swa}Tze  before; 
and  though  this  resulted  in  much  good  to  the  people, 
yet,  as  so  much  of  the  ludicrous  got  into  this  one,  by 
a  mishap,  I  resolved  never  to  undertake  the  like  again, 
and  never  have. 

The  people  hung  on,  on  Tuesday  morning,  as  if  to 
watch  us,  and  see  us  safe  out  of  the  country.  There 
was  scarcely  a  tent  struck,  nor  a  team  started  when  we 
left  the  ground.  When  we  mounted  our  horses  to 
leave,  something  like  a  dozen  others  mounted  theirs,  and 
took  the  same  road  and  accompanied  us  several  miles. 

If  nothing  had  occurred  or  been  said  about  Yan- 
kees, all  this  attention  could  have  easily  been  construed 
into  an  escort  of  honor.  But  under  the  circumstances 
of  the  case,  we  could  but  suspect  it  was  a  guard  of 
safety,  more  than  an  escort  of  honor;  and  what  fol- 
lows, will  exhibit  such  a  want  of  intelligence  in  the 
people,  as  will  justify  such  a  suspicion. 

As  we  rode  along,  a  Presbyterian  elder,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  a  leading  man  in  that  region,  either  from 
his  own  curiosity,  or  being  deputed  by  the  others, 
from  his  rank  in  their  society,  rode  by  my  side  to 
make  further  inquiries  as  to  the  Yankeeism.  Why  he 
selected  me  out  of  the  four,  I  never  knew.  Whether 
he  thought  me  the  most  honest,  or  suspected  me  for 
the  greatest  rogue,  if  rogues  we  were,  I  can  not  tell ; 
but  he  selected  me  of  whom  to  inquire. 

He  began  by  speaking  of  the  excellent  meeting  we 
had  had;  of  the  great  preaching,  such  as  they  never 
had  heard  before ;  and  of  the  great  good  that  had  evi- 
dently been  done ;  and,  if  it  would  not  be  offensive,  ho 
should  like  to  ask  me  a  few  questions. 


320 


A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 


"Very  well,"  said  I,  "go  on,  I  will  answer  you,  if 
I  can." 

"Well,"  said  he,  "we  have  reason  to  believe  that 
you  are  good  men,  have  come  here  to  do  us  good,  and 
have  done  us  much  good.  But  there  is  one  great  mys- 
tery in  this  matter  which  we  can  not  understand.  It 
was  stated  on  the  ground  that  you  were  Yankees,  and 
we  in  this  country  do  not  know  how  to  reconcile  the 
idea  of  goodness  with  that  of  a  Yankee;  all  we  know 
of  Yankees  in  this  country,  is  from  peddlers,  counter- 
feiters, horse  jockeys  and  horse-thieves,  and  the  like. 
How  such  men  can  be  good  we  do  n't  know,  and  we 
would  like  to  know,  if,  indeed,  you  are  Yankees." 

I  began  to  think  by  this  time,  that  if  they  had  such 
an  opinion  of  "the  universal  Yankee  nation,"  it  was  no 
wonder  they  were  in  reality  guarding  us  out  of  their 
country.  But  viewing  their  prejudices  to  be  the  result 
of  ignorance,  or — to  select  a  softer  term,  but  of  the 
same  import — from  the  want  of  better  information,  I 
endeavored  to  explain,  and  I  assured  him  that  to  form 
an  idea  of  the  general  character  of  the  Yankees  from  the 
conduct  of  those  renegades  he  mentioned,  was  doing 
us  great  injustice.  "You  have  rogues  in  Pennsylvania," 
said  I,  "but  it  would  be  doing  the  community  at  large 
great  injustice  to  suppose  that  all  were  rogues,  because 
some  few  had  proved  to  be  such." 

This  he  admitted  was  good  reasoning.  I  went  on 
further  to  say,  "  The  class  of  Yankees  of  whom  you 
speak,  dare  not  stay  at  home,  they  would  soon  be  ar- 
rested and  imprisoned;  and,  hence,  they  go  to  other 
and  distant  countries  to  commit  their  depredations." 

I  was  aware  of  what  Hatton  and  Swayze  had  said, 
which  was  not  strictly  and  literally  true  in  the  com- 
monly accepted  meaning  of  that  term,  and  I  did  not 
wish  to  conflict  with  them;  so  I  had  to  tell  him  that 
they  had   used  the  term   in  rather  a  joke,  on  discov- 


REV.  ALFRED    BRUNSON.  321 

ering  the  apparent  fears  of  the  people  that  we  were 
Yankees,  against  whom  they  were,  as  we  judged,  and, 
indeed,  knew,  unreasonably  prejudiced. 

I  told  him  that  "Swayze  was  born  in  New  Jersey, 
raised  and  converted  in  Maryland,  and  commenced 
to  preach  there,  but  was  soon  sent  into  New  England 
and  New  York,  where  he  married  and  traveled  till  he 
came  to  Ohio,  and  for  this  he  was  called  a  Yankee." 

"As  for  myself,"  I  went  on,  "I  was  born  in  Con- 
necticut, converted  in  Pennsylvania,  have  lived  in  Ohio 
several  years,  but  the  most  of  my  traveling  has  been 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  am,  therefore,  a  Yankee,  but  pretty 
well  westernized.  Hatton  was  born  in  North  Caro- 
lina, raised  in  Kentucky,  converted  and  commenced 
traveling  there,  but  was  sunt  to  North-East,  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, to  travel,  where  he  married  a  Yankee  wife,  and, 
therefore,  calls  himself  a  Yankee.  Barris  was  born 
and  converted  in  Pennsylvania,  but  has  traveled  mostly 
among  the  Yankees,  has  a  Yankee  wife,  and  is,  there- 
fore, called  a  Yankee-" 

"But,"  said  the  elder,  "we  understood  that  he  came 
down  from  Chautauqua  county  on  the  Alleghany  Eiver, 
with  his  horse." 

"Yes,"  said  I,  "he  got  on  to  a  raft  at  Warren,  and 
floated  down  to  near  Franklin." 

"O,  that  is  it!  we  thought  he  rode  on  the  water, 
and  if  so,  that  he  must  be  a  wizard,  or  some  such 
character;  but  now  the  matter  is  plain;"  and  after  a 
pause,  and  a  long  breath,  he  said,  "Well,  I  suppose  we 
must  admit  that  there  are  some  good  folks  among  all 
sorts  of  people."  Upon  this  we  parted.  But  the  trick 
is  probably  remembered  in  that  country  to  this  day. 

We  had  an  appointment  at  the  outlet  of  Conneaut 
Lake,  where  was  a  log  meeting-house,  built  fur  every 
body  who  might  chance  to  occupy  it,  and  we  availed 
ourselves  of  the  common  privilege.     But  we  could  not 


322  A  WESTERN     PIONEER. 

induce  the  people  to  come  to  meeting.  Univcrsalism 
had  the  predominance,  and  they  felt,  or  rather  tried  to 
feel,  that  they  were  safe  anyhow.  I  resorted,  as  I  did 
once  before,  to  a  harmless  stratagem  to  excite  their 
curiosity,  and  gave  out  that  at  the  next  round  I  would 
preach  from  the  words  of  the  devil. 

This  drew  out  quite  a  crowd,  to  whom  I  preached 
from  Job  i,  9;  and  at  the  close,  said,  "You  appear  to 
be  more  anxious  to  hear  from  the  words  of  the  devil 
than  from  the  Word  of  God.  The  next  time  I  come 
round  I  will  preach  the  devil's  funeral  sermon.  I  do 
not  say  that  he  is  dead,  but  criminals  sometimes  have 
their  funeral  sermons  preached  before  they  are  exe- 
cuted; and  so,  I  will  tell  you  what  will  become  of 
him." 

This  roused  up  the  imps  of  Satan,  who  attempted  to 
turn  it  into  fun  and  frolic.  But  they  changed  their 
tone  before  it  was  finished.  An  old  backslider  went  to 
a  cabinet-maker  to  induce  him  to  make  a  coffin  and 
carry  it  to  the  meeting-house. 

"I  will  make  it,"  said  lie,  "if  you  will  carry  it  to 
the  house.  If  you  do  n't  carry  it  you  shall  pay  me  for 
making  it."  But  this  he  declined,  and  the  scheme  fell 
through ;  but  the  word  went  out  through  the  commu- 
nity that  he  had  spoken  for  a  coffin,  and  he  was  fre- 
quently jeered  on  account  of  it. 

At  the  time  a  large  crowd  filled  the  house,  and  I 
preached  from  Rev.  xx,  1,  2,  3,  and  10.  I  gave  such  a 
biography  of  Satan  as  the  Bible  furnished  materials  for ; 
how  and  what  he  was  created  for;  how  he  fell,  and  by 
that  fall  became  a  devil;  where  he  was  sent  to,  and 
his  final  and  everlasting  doom;  and  that  all  who  fol- 
lowed or  served  him  would  have  their  part  with  him 
in  the  lake  of  fire  and  brimstone. 

I  said,  further,  that  it  was  common  for  children  to 
mourn  at  the  funeral  of  their  father,  and  so  it  would  be 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  323 

in  this  case,  but  with  this  difference;  here  children 
mourned  for  the  loss  of  their  father  in  being  separated 
from  him,  but  there  the  lamentation  would  be  because 
they  must  go  with  him  ;  and  referred  to  Revelation 
xviii,  9-19,  the  lamentation  of  those  who  were  inter- 
ested in  Babylon,  as  a  specimen. 

I  said,  further,  it  is  common  for  children  and  friends 
to  provide  coffins  for  their  deceased  father  and  friend, 
and  so  it  was  in  this  case.  This  turned  all  eyes  to  the 
man  who  had  spoken  for  the  coffin,  and  before  he  got 
out  of  the  house  he  was  jeered  by  others  of  his  class, 
and  it  was  a  long  time  before  he  heard  the  last  of  it. 

But  the  stratagem  had  its  desired  effect,  for  the 
people,  either  from  shame,  curiosity,  or  from  an  awak- 
ened interest,  gave  a  better  attendance  to  the  meetings 
afterward,  and  from  the  proofs  given  of  the  existence 
of  a  personal  devil,  the  dogmas  of  Universalism  waned 
considerably. 

"We  had  a  camp-meeting  on  our  circuit,  at  Sharon, 
at  which  some  eight  thousand  people  were  in  attendance. 
Some  of  the  most  respectable  people  in  the  county 
came  with  their  tents,  not  only  for  religious  privileges, 
but  on  account  of  the  advantage  to  health,  to  have  a 
little  rural  enjoyment,  and  relaxation  from  the  pressing 
and  burdensome  cares  of  business  life.  About  one 
hundred  souls  were  converted  to  God. 

Early  in  this  meeting  a  woman  was  awakened  and 
went  into  a  prayer-circle  to  seek  for  mercy  and  pardon. 
Her  husband,  a  large,  athletic  man,  supposing  that  we 
had  some  kind  of  a  charm  over  the  people,  thought  if 
he  could  get  her  out  of  the  prayer-meeting,  and  break 
the  charm,  that  her  bad  feelings  would  all  vanish,  and 
he  took  her  out.  When  out,  and,  as  he  supposed,  the 
charm  broken,  he  told  her  if  she  chose  she  could  go  back 
again,  but  that  he  was  going  home,  about  four  miles. 
She,  of  course,  had  to  go  with  him,  or  go  home  afoot. 


3*24  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

But  lie  could  not  rest,  and  returned  the  next  day, 
and  was  himself  converted  to  God.  He  then  wanted 
his  wife  to  go  into  the  prayer-meeting  and  be  converted 
also;  but  he  could  never  after  that  persuade  her  to  save 
her  soul.  He  joined  the  Church  and  became  a  leader 
and  steward,  but  she  proved  to  be  a  perfect  thorn  in  the 
flesh.  She  persecuted  him  in  all  ways  she  could  con- 
trive. If  he  invited  a  preacher  to  his  house,  and  did 
not  happen  to  be  at  the  house  himself  when  he  came, 
she  would  insult  and  send  him  away,  saying  she  wanted 
no  such  men  about  her  house,  and  would  not  have 
them. 

She  would  seldom  allow  him  to  have  family  worship 
in  peace,  and  she  taught  her  children  to  disrespect  their 
father  in  almost  every  thing,  but  especially  in  religious 
matters.  In  short,  she  appeared  to  be  a  perfect  demo- 
niac, and  lived  and  died  so. 

But  the  poor  man  bore  it  with  examplary  patience. 
He  never  murmured,  but  received  it  as  a  just  judgment 
upon  him  for  dragging  her  out  of  the  prayer-meeting, 
and  he  often  held  it  up  as  a  warning  to  other  men, 
never  to  oj)pose  or  stand  in  the  way  of  wife  or  children 
who  desired  to  serve  God  and  save  their  souls. 

We  closed  up  the  Conference  year  with  a  respect- 
able increase  in  the  membership,  and  left  the  circuit  in 
a  healthful  condition. 

\ 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

THE  Pittsburg  Conference  for  1826  met  in  Washing- 
ton, Pennsylvania.  I  was  appointed  this  year  to 
Newcastle  circuit,  one  part  of  which  was  half  a  day's 
ride  from  my  home. 

This  circuit  then  embraced  parts  of  Mercer,  Butler, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  325 

Beaver,  and  Alleghany  counties,  and  reached  within 
three  miles  of  Pittsburg  city.  Many  of  the  people 
within  its  limits  were  emigrants  from  the  eastern  de- 
clivities of  the  Alleghany  Mountains,  and  were  born  and 
raised  at  a  time  when  that  was  the  outskirt  settlement 
of  the  State,  and  brought  with  them  no  higher  views  of 
civilization,  education,  and  architecture  than  their 
fathers  had  arrived  at  in  what  was  then  the  backwoods; 
that  is,  a  hewed  log-house  and  barn,  with  shingle-roofs, 
the  shingles  being  made  of  split  and  shaved  oak. 

The  most  of  them  had  settled  upon  lands  owned 
by  speculators  and  land-jobbers,  on  a  lease  for  five 
years,  free  of  rent,  but  were  bound  to  build  such  a 
house  and  barn,  plant  a  certain  number  of  apple  and 
other  fruit  trees  within  the  thirty  acres  they  were 
bound  to  clear  and  fence  into  fields  of  not  more  than 
five  acres  each.  If  they  renewed  the  lease,  it  was  upon 
condition  of  paying  rent,  or  clearing,  fencing,  and 
breaking  up  another  specified  quantity  of  land.  They 
seemed  not  to  know  the  advantage  of  cellars,  but 
buried  their  vegetables  and  apples,  if  they  had  any,  in 
the  ground.  Some  had  been  long  enough  on  their  farms 
to  buy  them  and  pay  for  them  from  their  produce,  but 
yet  seemed  not  to  advance  in  the  arts  of  living,  or  know 
how  to  use  what  they  had,  in  what  was  called  refined, 
or  the  better  mode  of  living.  In  short,  they  lived 
coarse,  while  with  the  same  kind  of  materials  others 
lived  in  much  better  state.  But  they  were  generally  a 
peaceable  and  industrious  people,  and  as  more  refined 
people  mingled  in  their  settlements,  they  made  advances 
in  their  modes  of  living. 

The  Shenango  River  lay  between  my  home  and  my 
circuit.  I  visited  my  family  once  in  four  weeks,  and  to 
do  so  had  to  ford  this  river,  as  there  was  then  neither 
bridge  nor  ferry  at  or  near  Newcastle.  On  one  occasion, 
in  crossing  a  ford  one  hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred 


326  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

yards  wide,  the  water  being  up  to  my  saddle-skirts, 
and  very  swift,  my  horse  slipped  on  a  smooth  rock  and 
fell,  and  the  current  was  so  strong  that  he  could  not  rise 
with  me  on  him,  so  I  had  to  dismount  to  let  him  up; 
and  then  I  could  not  rise  to  the  saddle  out  of  the 
water,  and  had  to  lead  the  beast  some  ten  rods  to  the 
shore  before  1  could  remount  him,  and  then  had  to  ride 
eighteen  miles  in  my  wet  clothes  to  reach  home  before 
I  could  change. 

At  another  time  I  was  crossing  in  the  Winter  at  a 
narrower  place,  where  the  ice  had  made  out  from  each 
shore,  but  the  water  was  open  in  the  middle.  At  the 
edge  of  the  ice  the  water  was  about  two  or  two  and  a  half 
feet  deep.  Off  this  I  must  go  at  a  jump,  and  rise  the  same 
height  on  the  opposite  side.  I  was  there  and  must  cross, 
or  not  reach  home  on  that  round.  If  I  did  not  my  wife 
would  think  me  drowned  in  attempting  to  cross  that 
river,  for  she  knew  it  was  between  us.  I  went  to  this 
place  expecting  to  find  it  frozen  entirely  over.  As  it 
was,  I  forced  my  horse  off  the  ice,  and  he  plunged  so 
deep  that  the  water  came  over  the  tops  of  my  boots  and 
filled  them.  In  this  plight  I  had  to  ride  three  miles  to 
reach  the  first  house,  where  I  could  change.  By  that 
time  it  was  dark,  and  the  water  on  me  was  frozen,  and 
my  boots  were  much  stiffened,  the  water  in  them  being 
nearly  congealed;  but  I  succeeded  in  thawing  out, 
changing  my  socks,  and  reached  home  before  midnight. 

At  another  time  I  had  an  extra  appointment,  which 
required  me  to  cross,  by  a  ford,  another  branch  of  the 
Beaver  River,  which  was  one  hundred  and  fifty  j^ards 
wide  at  that  place.  The  water  was  up  to  my  sad- 
dle-skirts. Just  below  the  ford  the  water  was  com- 
pressed between  two  rocks,  not  over  fifty  yards  apart, 
and  then  tumbled  down  a  hundred  or  more  feet,  over 
broken  rocks,  in  a  perfect  foam.  If  my  horse  had 
stumbled  and  fallen,  nothing  could  have  saved  both  him 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  327 

and  his  rider  from  going  down  the  awful  chasm;  but 
the  bottom  proved  to  be  smooth,  and  we  reached  the 
shore  in  safety.  The  congregation  proved  to  be  very- 
small ;  indeed,  the  people,  knowing  that  the  water  was 
high,  did  not  expect  me. 

We  had  an  appointment  at  Zellenople,  in  a  Baptist 
church,  which  we  occupied  alternately  with  them,  in 
consideration  of  three  hundred  dollars,  paid  by  our 
friends  toward  the  building  of  it,  to  be  refunded  when 
they  required  the  whole  occupancy  of  it. 

I  preached  one  day  on  a  subject  which  led  me  to 
speak  of  the  third  heaven,  and  of  the  first  and  second,  as 
necessaril}7  preceding  it.  The  first  I  described  as  being 
the  Gospel  dispensation,  as  in  the  command  to  "repent, 
for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand;"  the  second  I  de- 
scribed as  being  the  grace  of  God  in  a  regenerated  soul, 
as  "the  kingdom  of  God  is  within  you;"  and  the  third, 
as  being  the  paradise  of  God,  the  abode  "of  the  spirits 
of  just  men  made  perfect." 

On  my  way  from  the  church  to  the  house  where  I 
lodged,  I  overheard  the  good  sister  say  to  her  husband, 
"  Brother  Branson's  views  of  the  first  and  second  heaven 
are  different  from  what  I  ever  heard  before."  At  this  I 
inquired  wherein.  She  stated;  and  we  referred  the 
question  to  the  authorities,  as  she  had  a  large  collection 
of  our  books. 

They  had  invited  the  Baptist  preacher,  and  several 
other  intelligent  gentlemen,  to  dine  with  us  on  that  day, 
and  while  waiting  for  dinner  the  subject  came  up  for 
discussion,  and  the  books  were  examined.  All  of  them 
agreed  in  saying  that  the  first  heaven,  among  the  Jews, 
meant  the  atmosphere,  the  elements  of  which  would  be 
melted  at  the  burning  up  of  the  world.  The  second 
means  the  starry  heavens;  and  the  third  the  paradise 
of  God.  "Well,"  said  I,  "I  must  stand  corrected,  and 
am  glad  to  be  so,  for  I  had  rather  be  put  right,  if  in 


328  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

error,  than  to  triumph  in  argument  for  it."  In  this  I 
expressed  just  what  were  my  sentiments  and  feelings, 
and  what  has  governed  me  through  life;  and  dropped 
the  subject  to  converse  on  something  else,  and,  proba- 
bly, should  never  have  thought  more  of  it  than  simply 
the  correction,  had  it  not  been  for  what  followed.  But 
the  good  man  of  the  house,  brother  B.,  showed  uncom- 
mon agitation  of  mind,  and  walked  back  and  forth  on 
the  floor,  as  if  something  fearful  had  occurred,  and  I  in- 
quired for  the  cause  of  it. 

"Why,"  said  he,  "I  didn't  expect  you  to  acknowl- 
edge an  error." 

"Why  not?  Is  it  not  better  to  be  corrected,  if  in 
error,  than  to  triumph  in  it?" 

"Yes;  but  from  what  I  had  heard  of  you  I  did  not 
expect  it ;  but  I  honor  you  the  more  for  doing  so." 

The  explanation  amounted  to  this :  -The  preachers 
generally  stopped  with  him  in  passing  through  the 
place,  and  frequently  I  was  the  topic  of  conversation, 
from  all  of  which  he  had  imbibed  the  idea  that  I  was 
"a  hard  case;"  that  I  ruled  with  a  rod  of  iron  ;  that  I 
asked  no  advice,  but  formed  my  own  opinions,  and 
when  formed,  I  was  as  immovable  as  the  hills;  but  of 
this  he  had  now  the  best  of  evidence  that  I  was  exactly 
the  contrary,  and  he  thought  the  better  of  me  for  it. 
He  further  said  that  they  all  agreed  that  I  could  preach, 
and  for  that  he  had  asked  the  presiding  elder  to  send 
me  to  the  circuit,, concluding  to  avoid  any  occasion  for 
the  application  of  the  iron  rod.  I  could  but  feel  afflicted, 
but  let  it  pass  as  a  part  of  my  sorrows  in  this  world. 

On  the  whole  it  was  a  pleasant  year;  and  we  had 
a  respectable  increase  in  the  membership,  and  left  the 
circuit  in  good  order. 

Our  Conference  for  1827  was  held  in  Steubenville, 
Ohio.  Here  our  difficulties  from  Badicalism  began  to 
make  trouble,  as  some  of  our  prominent  preachers  had 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  329 

become  involved  in  it.  One  of  them,  George  Brown, 
had  assailed  Bishop  Hedding,  in  the  "Mutual  Eights," 
a  paper  printed  in  Baltimore,  in  the  interest  of  that 
heresy.  With  this  there  was  great  dissatisfaction,  but 
how  deep  or  wide  we  had  then  no  means  of  deciding. 
Bishop  George  and  the  preachers  were  afraid  to  touch 
it,  lest  in  plucking  out  the  tares,  the  wheat  would  also 
be  disturbed.  It  had  been  represented  that  a  large  ma- 
jority of  the  Conference  had  become  disaffected  toward 
the  government  of  the  Church,  hence  those  fears. 

Owing  to  these  fears,  the  Bishop,  without  the  action 
of  the  Conference,  convened  a  committee,  who  compro- 
mised the  matter,  and  when  Brown's  name  was  called, 
in  the  examination  of  character,  it  was  rejwrted  that  the 
matter  had  been  amicably  settled.  I  was  not  satisfied, 
for  one,  and  rose  to  ask  how  it  was  settled;  whether  he 
had  recanted,  etc.;  but  the  frowns  of  the  Bishop  and 
some  of  the  fathors  induced  me  to  desist,  not  knowing 
the  strength  of  his  party.  I  afterward  learned  that  if  I 
had  proceeded  the  majority  would  have  sustained  me, 
though  a  storm  would  probably  have  been  raised.  But 
Bishop  Hedding  was  not  satisfied,  and  at  the  ensuing 
General  Conference  had  Brown  before  the  Episcopal 
Committee,  where  he  was  compelled  to  back-water  in 
the  case. 

At  this  Conference  delegates  were  elected  to  the 
General  Conference,  to  meet  at  Pittsburg  in  1828,  in 
which  the  weakness  of  human  nature  was  seen,  even  in 
ministers  of  the  Gospel.  Those  who  desired  an  election 
were  careful  to  do  or  say  nothing  that  would  tend  to 
losing  a  vote.  Some  who  were  loyal  to  the  Church, 
were,  nevertheless,  afraid  to  bear  upon  Eadicalism, 
though  it  was  clearly  ecclesiastical  treason  ;  and  those 
who  were  tinctured  with  the  moral  disease  became  very 
loyal ;  hence  the  matter  of  Eadicalism  was  lightly  passed 
over,  and  some  of  its  champions  were  elected  to  mis- 

28 


330  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

represent  the  Conference  in  the  great  sanhedrim  of  the 
Church.  In  another  year  it  would  not  have  been  so; 
for  by  that  time  the  lines  had  been  drawn,  and  many 
who  were  on  the  fence  got  off  upon  the  safe  side,  and 
when  the  secession  took  place  which  grew  out  of  it,  but 
two — Shinn  and  Brown — went  with  and  headed  the 
Radicals. 

My  appointment  this  year  was  in  Beaver  station.  I 
met  with  a  cold  reception,  owing  to  the  old  stories  about 
my  ruling  with  a  rod  of  iron;  but  before  a  quarter  had 
passed  away,  all  those  fears  had  subsided,  and  we  had  a 
gracious  revival,  and  a  pleasant  and  prosperous  year. 

In  the  course  of  the  year  a  very  singular  little  re- 
vival occurred  near  the  Falls  of  Beaver.  Two  families 
lived  near  each  other;  in  one  both  parents  were  pious; 
in  the  other  the  mother  was,  but  the  father  was  not,  a 
professor,  though  friendly  to  religion.  Each  family  had 
three  girls,  ranging  from  six  to  ten  j^ears  of  age;  these 
six  girls  were  in  the  habit  of  playing  together,  as  chil- 
dren are  wont  to  do.  On  one  occasion  they  were  assem- 
bled in  a  stack-yard,  and  a  proposition  was  made  to 
"play  prayer-meeting,"  to  which  all  assented,  and  the 
oldest  in  the  family  who  had  family  worship,  led  in  the 
devotions,  and  some  others  prayed,  using  such  words  as 
they  had  heard  in  the  family  and  in  pi\Tver-meetings. 
The  remarkable  part  of  this  adventure  was,  that  the 
Good  Spirit  fell  upon  them,  and  all,  at  the  same  time, 
began  to  feel  that  they  were  sinners,  and  to  weep  and 
pray  in  earnest  for  mercy  and  salvation.  Their  cries 
soon  reached  the  ears  of  the  mothers,  who,  fearing  that 
some  sad  accident  had  befallen  them,  ran  to  the  place  to 
see  what  was  the  matter.  Finding  their  children  in 
earnest  prayer  for  pardoning  mercy,  they  joined  with 
them,  and  instructed  them  to  believe  that  God,  for  the 
sake  of  Christ,  would  pardon  them. 

The  result  was,  the  whole  six  were  happily  converted 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  331 

to  God,  and  became  as  happy  as  little  angels,  and  din- 
ner was  forgotten  for  some  time.  At  length  each  mother 
took  her  happy  children  home,  with  streaming  eyes  and 
glad  hearts,  clapping  their  little  hands  and  praising 
God. 

The  non-praying  father,  fearing  the  children  might 
not  understand  what  they  were  about,  or  might  be 
mocking  such  meetings,  and  not  liking  the  idea,  if  it 
was  so,  took  his  little  six-year  old  on  his  knees,  and 
asked  if  they  were  sincere  in  what  they  were  doing? 

"What  is  that,  pa?     What  does  sincere  mean?" 

"Why,  were  you  in  earnest?  Did  you  mean  it,  or 
were  you  making  mock  of  religion?" 

"  O,  no,  pa;  we  were  ngt  making  mock  of  it;  we 
would  n't  do  such  a  thing.  We  are  sincere,  and  in  great 
earnest,  to  be  sure ;"  and,  throwing  her  arm  about  his 
neck,  said,  "  O,  pa,  it  was  a  good  time;  I  am  so  happy. 
Pa,  won't  you  get  religion,  too?" 

This  reached  the  father's  heart.  He  could  stand  it 
no  longer.  The  little  preacher  in  his  arms  did  more, 
under  God,  for  him  than  all  the  divines  he  had  ever 
heard;  and  he  bowed  before  God  in  prayer,  and  soon 
after  found  peace,  and  set  up  the  family  altar.  It  did 
my  soul  good  to  receive  this  father  and  these  six  chil- 
dren into  the  Church,  and  meet  them  in  class. 

Seeing  the  prevalence  of  heresy  in  the  garb  of  Re- 
form, alias,  Radicalism,  I  wrote  and  published  "A  Check 
to  Disaffection  in  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church." 
But  it  was  so  mangled  in  the  press  that,  whatever  else 
it  might  be  worth,  it  fell,  almost  still-born,  into  forget- 
fulness. 

Our  Conference  (in  1828)  met  at  the  camp-ground, 
in  Salem,  Mercer  county,  Penn.,  in  the  same  society 
out  of  which  Bishop  Roberts  went  into  the  itinerancy, 
and  he  presided  in  the  Conference.  The  sessions  were 
held  in  the   new  church  near   the   camp-ground;   the 


332  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

gallery  of  which  was  filled  with  beds  for  lodging*  the 
preachers.  Most  of  the  preachers  boarded  in  the  tents, 
though  some  of  them  went  to  neighboring  houses. 

The  regular  services  on  the  ground  were  kept  up 
day  and  night  for  a  week,  a  portion  of  the  preachers 
being  detailed  daily  to  conduct  them;  and  when  not 
in  session,  or  on  committee,  all  the  preachers  were 
present. 

The  encampment  and  concourse  of  people  were  very 
large.  To  Bishop  Eoberts  more  than  to  any  other  one, 
this  was  an  interesting  scene.  Here  was  the  society 
from  which  he  started  out  to  preach  the  Gospel  twenty- 
six  years  before.  Here  were  many  of  his  old  class- 
mates, his  brothers,  sisters^nd  old  neighbors,  and  their 
children  and  grandchildren,  all  of  whom  loved  and 
respected  him  when  among  them,  and  honored  him  in 
his  office,  and  felt  honored  by  his  having  gone  out  from 
among  them  to  bless  the  Church  and  the  world  with 
his  distinguished  services.  It  was  in  the  same  grove, 
and  but  a  few  rods  from  the  spot  where  he,  with 
others,  spent  their  first  night  in  the  country,  and,  as 
Elliott  says,  supperless,  because  young  Eoberts  fell 
asleep  and  suffered  the  squirrel  to  burn  up.  Now  to 
see  and  preside  OA'er  an  Annual  Conference  on  that 
ground,  and  see  and  meet  the  thousands  of  our  Israel, 
and  worship  God  together,  was  most  grateful  to  his 
heart,  and  not  less  so  to  the  pioneers  who  came  to  the 
country  with  him.  Nor  did  the  outsiders  escape  the 
excitement  and  exultation  that  seemed  to  be  conta- 
gious among  the  people,  to  meet  and  see  so  distin- 
guished a  Bishop  whom  God  had  raised  and  taken 
from  among  them. 

Holding  a  Conference  in  the  woods  was  an  experi- 
ment; and  though  many  souls  were  converted,  and  the 
whole  scene  made  a  very  favorable  impression  on  the 
public  mind,  yet,  both  preachers  and  people  seemed  to 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  333 

get  weary  of  a  week's  encampment.  The  attention  of 
all  was  so  divided  between  the  camp  and  the  Confer- 
ence, as  to  mar  the  enjoyment  of  both.  The  opinion 
seemed  to  prevail  that  the  two  together  did  not  work 
so  well  as  either  would  in  a  separate  form. 

At  this  Conference  my  name  was  placed  at  the  head 
of  a  district,  and  so  stood  till  the  last  night  of  the  coun- 
cil, when  it  was  changed  to  gratify  one  man.  He  was 
older  than  myself,  but  younger  in  the  ministry;  and 
said  that  he  would  not  ride  under  me,  but  would  ride 
over  me.  His  object  was  to  get  the  office  himself.  But 
no  one  except  himself  deemed  him  qualified  for  it;  yet, 
to  avoid  a  muss  with  him  the  change  was  made. 

It  struck  me  forcibly  that  such  a  spirit  was  not  that 
of  Christ  nor  his  Gospel,  and  that  probably  he  would 
not  be  long  in  the  way;  and  so  it  turned  out,  for  in 
less  than  four  years  he  was  in  his  grave,  having  died 
under  circumstances  which  cast  a  shade  of  doubt  over 
his  future  prospects.  "If  any  man  have  not  the  spirit 
of  Christ  he  is  none  of  his." 

At  the  moment  of  the  change,  the  appointments  had 
all  been  made,  and  to  change  any  one,  almost,  would 
start  a  change  generally,  or  over  a  considerable  extent 
of  the  Conference.  There  was,  however,  one  important 
place  yet  to  be  supplied,  the  second  station  in  the  Con- 
ference, Washington,  Penn.,  and  to  that  my  name  was 
affixed,  though  it  was  ninety  miles  from  home,  with  no 
prospect  of  moving  my  family  to  it;  and  thus  it  was 
read  out. 

This  station  had  been  filled  for  two  years  previous 
by  Asa  Shinn,  the  Bartimeus  or  champion  of  Eadieal- 
ism.  But  as  he  was  deranged,  by  or  in  consequence  of 
his  Radicalism,  and  sent  to  an  Asylum,  the  place  had 
been  vacant  for  several  months.  It  was  supposed  that 
he  had  affected  the  Church  in  the  place  by  the  poison 
of  his  heresy,  and  one  object,  and  probably  the  chief 


33-1  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

one,  in  my  appointment,  was  to  save  the  Church  from 
secession.  Shinn  had  labored  harder  to  divide  or  carry 
off  part  or  all  of  the  Church  than  he  had  to  save  souls. 
I  learned  that  not  one  solitary  conversion  had  occurred 
in  the  two  years  of  his  ministry  in  the  place;  and  he 
had  succeeded  so  that  one-half  of  the  leaders,  and 
about  half  of  the  one  hundred  and  fifty  members  I 
found  there,  were  tinctured  more  or  less  with  the  ism. 

The  place  was  ninety  miles  from  home,  and  I  should 
not  probably  remain  here  more  than  one  year,  and  this 
year  was  one  of  only  eleven  months.  To  break  up  and 
move  my  family,  therefore,  would  cost  more  than  I 
should  probably  receive,  and  especially  if  a  secession 
occurred.  On  consultation  with  my  wife,  it  was  agreed 
that  she  and  the  family  should  remain  on  the  farm,  and 
I  would  visit  them  as  often  as  I  could,  which  proved  to 
be  only  three  times  till  after  the  next  Conference. 

When  I  reached  Washington,  all  things  looked  cool 
and  forbidding.  I  learned  that  the  reason  for  this  was, 
the  old  stories  of  the  iron  rod.  When  the  preachers 
returned  from  Conference,  to  and  through  that  region, 
of  course  they  were  asked  who  was  to  be  their 
preacher. 

"  Why,  Brunson." 

"What  is  he?  old  side  or  new?" 

"Stiff  old  side." 

"Well,  what  kind  of  a  man  is  he?" 

"Why,  whatever  don't  bend  before  him  must  break. 
He  rules  with  a  rod  of  iron." 

"Then,"  said  the  Eadicals,  "we  are  done  for."  And 
one  of  them  was  said  to  have  run  himself  out  of  breath 
to  inform  the  others,  all  of  whom  were  said  to  have 
had  a  general  lamentation.  One  of  them  informed  me 
afterward,  that  he  wept  at  the  gloomy  prospects  before 
them. 

On  the  other  hand  the  loyal   men,  called  the  old 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  335 

side,  felt  about  as  bad,  expecting,  from  what  they  had 
heard,  that  I  would  tear  every  thing  to  pieces,  by 
attempting  to  coerce  the  Radicals  into  quietude  and 
obedience.  Thus  between  the  two  I  met  with  a  cool 
reception.  But  being  used  to  such  things,  now,  after 
years  of  experience,  and  having  invariably  seen  a 
change  and  cure,  I  began  by  this  time  to  care  less 
about  it,  expecting  the  reaction  would  operate  in  my 
favor. 

I  reached  town  on  Saturday,  preached  on  Sunday, 
twice,  and  called  the  leaders  and  stewards  together  on 
Monday  night.  After  the  usual  business  of  the  leaders' 
meeting  was  through,  I  said,  "Brethren,  I  have  under- 
stood that  there  is  considerable  uneasiness  among  you, 
as  to  the  course  I  shall  pursue.  You  have  heard  what 
is  not  true  of  me,  and  after  proving  to  the  contrary 
in  every  charge  I  have  ever  been  in,  I  can  but  feel 
afflicted  that  my  brethren  in  the  ministry  should  still 
believe  and  reiterate  that  old  slander,  to  my  prejudice, 
and  to  the  injury  of  my  usefulness. 

"I  shall  do  by  you  as  I  have  by  all  others  over 
whom  I  have  had  charge.  I  never  quarrel  with  any 
one  about  his  private  opinion.  If  you,  or  any  of  you, 
think  a  change  in  our  economy  would  be  for  the  bet- 
ter, you  can  think  so,  only  that  while  you  claim  the 
right  to  think  for  yourselves,  you  allow  others  the 
same  right. 

"I  take  the  Bible  and  the  Discipline  for  my  guide; 
and  while  you  remain  in  the  Church,  though  you  may 
think  some  things  amendable,  yet  I  shall  expect  you  to 
abide  by  the  rules  as  they  are,  till  they  are  amended, 
if  that  should  ever  be.  When  you  think  you  can  't  do 
this  any  longer,  why,  just  peaceably  retire,  and  we 
shall  not  quarrel  about  it." 

"O,"  said  they,  "if  that  is  all,  we  are  content;  we 
intend  to  abide   by  the  rules  while  we  remain  in  the 


336  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Church,  and  we  have  no  desire  or  design  to  leave  it,  at 
present,  if  we  ever  do." 

I  further  stated  to  them  that  it  was  my  business  to 
save  souls,  and  I  had  asked  the  Lord  to  give  me  one 
hundred  this  year,  and  I  hoped  they  would  co-operate 
with  me  in  the  work. 

At  this  their  countenances  brightened  up;  the}^ 
looked  much  more  cheerful  and  hopeful,  and  agreed  to 
board  me  and  my  horse,  and  pay  me  $200,  which  they 
did,  besides  making  me  several  respectable  presents. 
But  with  regard  to  a  revival  they  had  no  faith.  They 
had  not  been  thus  favored  in  seven  years.  They  had 
had,  they  thought,  more  talented  and  popular  preachers 
than  I  was,  and  without  revivals,  and  were  incredulous 
as  to  one  now.  I  reminded  them  that  God  had  not 
chosen  the  great  and  mighty,  but  the  weak  things  of 
this  world  to  confound  the  wise ;  and  that  it  was  "  not 
by  might,  but  by  my  Spirit,  saith  the  Lord,"  that  I  ex- 
pected success.  I  was  aware  that  a  good  revival  was  the 
best  cure  for  Radicalism  that  could  be  found,  and  sought 
this  as  the  only  remedy  in  this  case.  Thank  God,  I 
was  not  disappointed. 

In  October  I  attended  a  camp-meeting  at  Castleman's 
Run,  near  Wellsburg,  Virginia.  The  days  were  very 
cool,  and  the  nights  frosty.  The  cold  seemed  to  affect 
the  soul  through  its  influence  on  the  body.  We 
preachers  finding  our  weapons  dull,  put  to  the  more 
strength,  but  with  no  effect.  We  effected  nothing  in  the 
way  of  revival  on  the  ground ;  but  I  went  back  to  my 
station  with  a  burden  and  travail  of  soul  upon  me,  that 
I  seldom  ever  felt  before  or  since.  I  commenced  a  series 
of  awakening  discourses,  which  followed  each  other, 
link  after  link,  each  one  apparently  a  little  harder  than 
its  predecessor,  and  I  perceived  a  yielding  in  the  moral 
atmosphere,  indicative  of  good. 

There  was  a  negro  in   the  jail  under  sentence  of 


REV,   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  337 

death  for  killing  his  master,  on  his  way  from  Maryland 
to  New  Orleans,  while  within  this  county.  His  story 
was  that  he  was  a  free  man,  and  had  been  kidnapped,  and 
he  sought  his  liberty,  the  gift  of  nature.  The  two  hap- 
pened to  be  alone  on  the  National  road  when  the  deed 
was  done,  and  they  were  sufficiently  distant  from  any 
house,  it  being  before  day,  in  the  morning,  for  him  to 
have  hid  his  victim,  and  made  his  escape;  but  instead 
of  that  he  foolishly  exposed  himself,  and  was  detected 
and  convicted. 

I  visited  him  repeatedly  in  his  prison,  but  could  do 
nothing  with  him.  I  became  satisfied  that  he  had  done 
worse  than  the  killing  of  his  kidnapper.  Until  I  made 
this  discovery  I  felt  a  sympathy  for  him;  but  on  this 
discovery  I  left  him  to  his  doom.  He  was  impenitent, 
hardened,  and  refused  to  confess  the  killing,  alleging 
that  he  had  taken  an  oath  not  to  confess,  and  if  he 
should  confess  he  had  more  that  was  worse  to  confess, 
and  therefore  would  not  begin. 

On  the  scaffold,  after  prayer,  he  desired  me  to  state 
to  the  thousands  of  people  present  what  I  thought  of  his 
case,  and  I  could  do  no  less  than  reiterate  the  above 
sentiments.  I  abhorred  slavery,  yet,  while  the  law 
recognized  it,  we  must  submit  to  it.  The  taking  of  life, 
though  it  was  to  obtain  freedom,  was  punishable  by  the 
laws,  and  must  be  submitted  to,  however  reluctantly. 

The  day  of  the  execution  was  early  in  November. 
It  was  very  rainy,  and  the  streets,  though  paved,  were 
very  muddy,  yet  thousands  of  women  and  children 
were  tramping  through  it  to  see  a  poor  ignorant  sinner 
hung.  Perhaps  all  had  seen  people  die,  but  the  novelty 
of  seeing  one  hung,  or  die  in  this  way,  drew  out,  it 
was  supposed,  ten  thousand  people,  and  at  least  one 
thousand  of  them  were  the  worse  for  liquor. 

This  evidence  of  the  depravity  of  human  nature 
seemed  to  have  a  powerful  effect  upon  the  moral  sensi- 

29 


338  A  WESTERN   PIONEER. 

bilities  of  the  communit}7,  and  taking  advantage  of  this 
in  the  pulpit,  it  was  made  by  the  providence  of  God 
subservient  to  the  awakening  of  sinners. 

The  night  after  the  execution  we  had  a  prayer  - 
meeting  in  a  large  private  room,  which  was  crowded  to 
inconvenience.  I  discovered  that  some  were  penitent ; 
but  there  had  not  been  a  mourner  invited  up  for 
prayers  in  the  town  for  seven  years,  and  it  was  doubt- 
ful whether  it  would  succeed,  if  attempted.  The 
room  was  so  crowded  that  they  could  not  pass  from  one 
part  of  it  to  another  without  going  over  the  heads  of 
others.  In  this  state  of  the  case,  the  next  best  thing  I 
could  do  was  to  invite  those  who  were  resolved  to  seek 
salvation,  to  kneel  by  their  seats,  and  the  brethren  and 
sisters  next  to  them  would  talk  to  and  pray  for  them. 
Eight  arose  and  kneeled  for  prayers. 

This  moved  our  old  members  something  as  an 
earthquake  would.  The  brethren  and  sisters  talked 
and  prayed  with  unwonted  power.  But  this  was  in  a 
private  house.  It  wTas  feared  that  the  incubus  of 
respectability  would  prevent  the  like  operation  in  the 
Church,  but  we -soon  broke  over  that,  and  the  altar  wTas 
crowded  with  penitents. 

At  the  first  Church  meeting  after  the  revival  com- 
menced, I  received  two  into  membership,  when  a 
humorous  old  brother  said,  "Now  you  have  got  ninety- 
eight  to  get."  The  next  Sabbath  I  received  nine. 
"Now,"  said  he,  "you  have  got  eighty-nine  to  get." 
The  following  Sabbath  I  received  t\vent3T-nine,  when 
they  stopped  counting  for  me.  In  six  weeks  I  received 
one  hundred  and  thirty,  and  after  all  the  deaths,  re- 
movals, and  sifting  we  had  one  hundred  and  tw^o  net 
increase.  Two  of  them  being  emigrants  to  the  place, 
left  me  just  one  hundred  increase. 

We  had  no  extra  meetings.  On  Sabbath  I  preached 
twice,  following  the  evening  services  with  a  prayer- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  339 

meeting;  Tuesday  night  a  prayer-meeting,  and  Thurs- 
day night  preaching  and  p^er-meeting.  These  two 
weekly  meetings  were  the  regular  appointments  of 
years'  standing.  The  classes  met  at  their  regular 
stated  times,  mostly  on  week-days  or  evenings. 

The  work  was  unlike  any  I  ever  saw  before.  It  did 
not  begin  in  the  Church,  but  outside  of  it,  and  bringing 
in  the  young  converts,  all  ablaze  of  divine  love,  it  set 
fire  to  the  old  members  as  a  fresh  fire  would  to  old 
extinguished  or  half-extinguished  fire-brands.  I  found 
the  Church,  when  I  came  to  it,  doting  upon  their 
respectability,  to  which  they  were  justly  entitled,  for  no 
Church  in  the  town  could  boast  of  a  more  orderly  and 
respectable  membership.  But  this,  of  itself,  was  not 
enough ;  they  needed  the  holy  fire  in  their  souls  to  pro- 
mote revivals. 

Those  who  were  tinctured  with  Eadicalism  stood 
aloof  for  a  while,  and  said  I  was  getting  up  an  excite- 
ment to  kill  off  Eadicalism,  tacitly  acknowledging  that 
that  ism  and  revivals  did  not  harmonize.  It  was  true 
that  I  knew  a  good  revival  would  be  death  to  that  ism  ; 
and  while,  in  part,  that  was  my  aim,  yet  I  had  a  higher 
object  in  view,  which  was  to  save  souls;  but  if  I  could 
kill  two  birds  with  one  stone  so  much  the  better. 

The  work  was  mostly  among  young  people,  having 
a  large  share  of  young  men,  all  of  whom  I  advised 
from  the  pulpit  to  attend  class,  even  before  they  joined 
the  Church,  and  told  them  where  and  when  the  classes 
met.  We  had  one  class  of  young  men  which  was  led 
by  a  Eadical,  and  met  at  sunrise  on  Sunday  mornings. 
The  leader,  on  going  to  his  class-room  one  morning, 
found  it  crowded  with  young  converts,  who  were  all  on 
fire.  They  knew  nothing  of  Eadicalism,  nor  of  its  cold- 
ness and  dead  formality ;  nor  yet  of  the  leader's 
previous  views  and  remarks  about  the  excitement,  but 
supposed  that  all  who  professed  religion  must  feel  as 


340  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 

happy  and  lively  us  they  did,  and  related  their  state  of 

mind  as  young  converts  are  wont  to  do.  Under  this 
unexpected  lire  the  Leader  caught  the  flame;,  and  ran 
home  to  tell  his  venerable  mother  what  he  had  seen, 
and  how  he  felt,  assuring  her  it  was  in  reality  the  work 
of  God.  This  started  the  old  lady,  who  was  rcbaptix-  d 
IV', in  above,  and  became  as  active  in  the  meetings  as  a 
girl  of  sixteen.  Both  were;  effectually  cured  of  their 
notions  of  reform  in  the  Church.  This  was  but  a 
specimen    of  other    cases,    so    that    when    the    Radical 

preachers  came  to  organize,  as  they  supposed,  fully  one- 

balf  of  the  Church  under  their  standard,  they  could  find 
only  six  who  would  go  with  them,  of  two  hundred  and 

fifty  members. 

One  wicked  rum-seller  told  a  pious  sister  that  "  they 
arc    making    Methodists    down    at    the    Church    as    fast 

as  yon  could  run  bullets."  Another,  whose  apprentice 
was  among  the  converts,  said  to  a  Leader,  "If  you  will 
keep  him  in  the  good  way  six  months  I'll  give  you  five 
dollars."  At  the  end  of  six  months  "Andy"  was  still 
on  his  way  to  heaven,  and  the  boss  paid  the  live  dollars. 

In  the  midst  of  the  work  Asa  Shinn  had  recovered 
his  reason,  and  came  out  of  the  Asylum,  whither  Radi- 
calism had  driven  him,  and  came  to  visit  his  friends 
in  Washington.  To  gratify  them  in  part,  and  partly 
from  the  courtesy  due  to  him  as  an  old  minister,  I 
invited  him  to  preach.  He  declined  doing  so  in  the 
morning,  but  consented  to  do  so  at  night. 

Jn  the  time  of  his  insanity  he  was  said  to  have 
been  both  profane  ami  obscene,  all  of  which  he  re- 
membered, singular  as  it  might  seem,  after  recovering 
his  reason,  ami  thought  he  was  responsible  to  God  for 
it.  Under  this  view  he  was  very  penitent,  and  was 
praying  for  pardon.  His  text  was,  "Is  there  no  balm 
in  Ciilead?  Is  there  no  physician  there?  Why,  then, 
is   not   the   health  of  the    daughter  of  my  people    re- 


REV.   ALFRED    BR  UN  SON.  341 

covered?"  This  he  applied  to  himself,  for  he  said  he 
had  entirely  backslid  in  his  radical  movements,  and  if 
lie  got  restored  to  the  peace  and  favor  of  God,  he 
would  have  do  more  to  do  with  that  ism. 

After  lie  preached  I  exhorted  and  invited  the  peni- 
tents to  come  forward  for  prayers,  and  the  altar  was 
soon  filled.      I   asked   him   to  pray  for  them,  hut   he  only 

prayed  for  himself,  as  if  he  was  the  greatest,  if  not,  the 

only  sinner    at   the  altar.      lie    professed  to   find   peace, 

but  strange  to   tell,  in   two  weeks   from  that  time,   he 

was  on  his  way  to  Cincinnati  to  preach  tor  the  seced- 
ing Radicals. 

Marly  in  the  revival  we  had  a  love-feast,  and  I  is- 
sued one  hundred  and  thirty-two  notes  of  admittance 
to  persons  who  professed  to  be  seeking  religion,  many 
of  whom  were  converted,  but  not  all. 

Near  the  close  of  the  revival  we  had  another  love- 
feast,  which  exceeded  any  thine;  I  ever  witnessed  for 
the  manifestations  of  the  Divine  presence  and  power. 
After  the  usual  time  spent  in  speaking,  I  invited  peni- 
tents to  the  altar.  Some  came.  I  then  invited  all  the 
yoiing  converts  who  desired  a   renewal  of  tin;  evidence 

of  their  acceptance  with  God,  and  a  general  rush  en- 
sued; the  altar  being  full,  and  the  front,  seats  being  full, 
I  told  them  to  OCCUpy  the  seats  next,  when  half  of  the 
seats  in  the  body  of  the  house  were  thus  appropriated. 
I  then  directed  all  to  kneel  and  pray  in  Secret  for 
a  few  minutes.  In  a  moment  a  general  whispering 
was  heard,  which  soon  rose  to  a  general  murmuring 
noise,  unlike  any  thing  I  ever  heard,  when  I  called  on 

a  brother  who  was  in   the  midst   of  them   to    pray.      Re 

raised  up  his  head  and  began,  but  he  had  not  ottered 
a  dozen  words  before  tin;  noise;  amounted  to  a  roar, 
very  much  resembling  "a  mighty  rushing  wind,"  and 
he  stopped,  as  he  could  not  be  heard  five  feet  from 
him. 


31:2  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  noise  grew  louder  and  louder  till  it  became 
deafening,  and  one  after  another  rose,  not  with  bois- 
terous shouts,  for  no  one  spoke  above  his  or  her  natu- 
ral voice,  but  all  had  the  same  to  tell,  and  that  was, 
"  O,  I  am  so  happy;  O,  I  am  so  happy!"  and  without 
any  direction  or  design,  the  young  men  drew  out  from 
the  seats  into  the  aisle  on  their  side  of  the  house,  and 
gathered  round  each  other,  the  tallest  in  the  center,  then 
the  next  tallest,  and  so  on  till  the  shortest  were  on  the 
outside,  forming  a  human  pyramid,  and  swinging  back 
and  forth,  all  saying,  "  O,  I  'm  so  happy ;  O,  I  'm  so 
happy!" 

In  the  mean  time  the  young  sisters  got  into  a  simi- 
lar pyramid  on  their  side  of  the  house,  their  bonnets 
and  combs  being  piled  up  in  the  windows  by  the  elder 
sisters — the  house  being  built  of  brick  the  window-sills 
were  wide — their  long  hair  was  flowing  and  swinging 
with  their  gentle  swinging  motion,  and  all  were  ex- 
claiming, "O,  I  'm  so  happy;  O,  I'm  so  happy!" 

The  old  members  stood  amazed,  though  they  felt  ex- 
ceedingly happy  in  themselves,  yet  not  having  ever 
seen  any  thing  like  it  before,  they  stood  amazed.  One, 
an  Irish  leader,  came  to  me  as  I  stood  in  the  altar 
drinking  deep  in  the  joy  and  happiness  of  the  occa- 
sion, and  said  to  me,  "  O,  brother,  won  't  they  hurt 
themselves  ?" 

"No  ;  it  is  God's  work,  and  he  never  hurt  any  one. 
I  never  knew  one  to  be  hurt  by  such  exercises." 

"  O,  but  I  never  see  the  like  of  it  in  my  life,  neither 
here  nor  in  my  own  country.  I  'm  afraid  they  '11  hurt 
themselves." 

"  There  is  no  danger,  brother,  the  Spirit  of  God  is 
at  work,  the  Holy  Ghost  has  descended  and  fallen  upon 
us  like  a  rushing  mighty  wind." 

"Well,  it  seems  to  be  so.  But  I'm  afraid  they'll 
hurt  themselves." 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  343 

To  please  him  and  allay  his  fears,  I  attempted  to 
speak  from  the  altar,  and  requested  them,  if  they  could, 
without  marring  their  own  enjoyment,  or  grieving  the 
Spirit,  to  hold  in  a  little.  But  though  I  could  cover 
ten  thousand  people  with  my  voice,  in  the  open  air,  I 
could  not  be  heard  twenty  feet  from  me,  and  I  desisted. 

I  then  went  to  the  young  men  and  said,  "  I  am  glad 
to  see  you  so  happy,  but  if  you  can,  without  grieving 
the  Spirit,  I  would  rather  not  have  quite  so  much 
noise."  Those  next  to  me  threw  their  arms  round  me, 
and  I  had  to  swing  with  them.  I  could  no  more  stop 
or  check  their  motion  than  I  could  that  of  the  wind.  I 
was  as  powerless  when  clasped  by  them,  and  thus  at- 
tached to  the  pyramid,  as  an  infant,  and  they  appeared 
not  to  hear  me,  but  continued  their  exclamation,  "  O, 
I  'm  so  happy!" 

Finding  I  could  do  nothing  there,  I  by  hard  pulling 
got  clear  of  their  grasp,  and  went  to  the  young  sisters 
with  the  same  request.  But  with  no  other  result; 
they,  also,  reiterating  the  same  words,  "0,  I'm  so 
happy!"  From  this  I  returned  to  the  altar,  and  taking 
my  seat,  contemplated  the  scene  before  me.  I  was  as 
certain  as  of  my  existence  that  there  was  more  noise  in 
the  house  than  was  made  by  the  voices  of  the  people. 
For  no  one  spoke  loud ;  there  was  no  shouting,  no 
jumping,  nor  ranting.  Every  motion  was  gentle  and 
slow,  and  I  could  see  nothing  in  the  gestures  or  voices 
of  those  present,  to  cause  such  a  deafening  roar,  so  much 
resembling  that  of  a  very  high  wind,  or  the  roaring  of 
mighty  waters  over  a  cataract. 

My  Irish  leader  could  not  keep  his  school  the  next 
day,  he  was  so  amazed  and  so  fearful  that  the  young 
converts,  and  especially  the  young  sisters,  had  injured 
their  health  by  their  exercises  the  night  before,  and  he 
went  from  house  to  house  where  any  of  them  lived, 
and  found  all  in  good  health  and  spirits,  never  so  well, 


344  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

and  never  so  happy  in  all  their  lives.  He  then  came 
to  me  to  report  the  result  of  his  inquiries,  and  express 
his  gratitude  to  God  for  the  wonderful  display  of  his 
saving  power  and  grace. 

As  the  revival  was  slackening,  and  mourners  ceased 
to  come  forward,  though  the  same  means  were  still  in 
use,  some  who  were  faithless  when  I  first  spoke  of  the 
hundred  souls  for  which  I  had  asked  the  good  Lord, 
now  began  to  wonder  why  I  did  not  ask  for  two  hun- 
dred, or  five  hundred.  I  replied  that  I  asked  for  as 
many  as  I  had  faith  for.  The  fact  was,  when  at  prayer 
for  success  in  my  new  charge,  I  felt  an  impression  from 
the  Divine  Spirit  that  God  would  give  me  one  hundred 
souls  that  year,  and  I  asked  him  to  do  so. 

In  February,  1829,  General  Andrew  Jackson,  who 
had  been  elected  President  of  the  United  States,  on  his 
way  from  Tennessee  to  Washington  City,  to  take  his 
seat  on  the  4th  of  March  ensuing,  came  through  Wash- 
ington, Penn.,  and  spent  a  Sabbath  there.  The  Pres- 
b}rterians  and  the  Methodists  were  the  two  most  promi- 
nent denominations  in  the  place,  and  in  each  Church 
the  President-elect  had  admirers  and  opponents.  His 
admirers,  of  course,  paid  their  respects  to  him,  and  in- 
vited him  to  attend  Worship  at  their  respective  churches. 
To  gratify  both  as  much  as  possible,  he  attended  wor- 
ship at  the  Presbyterian  church  in  the  morning,  and  at 
the  Methodist  at  night. 

The  great  parade,  and  cavalcade  escort  he  received 
into  town,  on  Saturday,  made  me  think  of  man-worship. 
Nor  was  it  less  visible  at  church,  for  when  he  came  to 
ihe  door  some  of  our  prominent  brethren,  who  had 
voted  for  him,  met  him,  and  escorted  him  to  the  altar, 
and  seated  him  in  an  easy  chair  inside  of  the  railing, 
with  Judge  Baldwin,  who  accompanied  him,  by  his  side. 
The  house  was  crowded,  of  course,  by  many  who  never 
attended  at  other  times. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  345 

I  had  engaged  a  visiting  brother  to  preach  for  me 
that  night,  but  he  declined  when  he  found  the  old  Gen- 
eral was  to  attend,  and  left  it  to  me.  My  text  was, 
"^"ow  then  we  are  embassadors  for  Christ,  as  though 
God  did  beseech  you  by  us ;  we  pray  you  in  Christ's 
stead,  be  ye  reconciled  to  God."  I  made  no  allusions  to 
him,  nor  any  apologies,  but  preached  as  if  he  had  not 
been  there;  indeed,  I  preached  to  him  as  I  would  to 
any  other  sinner.  As  I  came  down  out  of  the  pulpit, 
after  the  benediction,  Judge  Baldwin  tendered  me  the 
General's  thanks  "for  my  excellent  and  appropriate  dis- 
course." Such  thanks  are  matters  of  course,  whether 
he  liked  it  or  not. 

The  next  day,  being  the  23d,  I  started  to  visit  my 
family.  The  weather  was  soft,  the  snow  melting,  and 
the  roads  bad.  About  noon  the  weather  suddenly 
changed  to  severe  cold,  and  the  wet  snow  and  mud  that 
splashed  on  to  mj^  horse's  legs  froze  thereto.  In  a 
short  time  the}'  were  so  incumbered  and  benumbed  that 
it  was  difficult  for  him  to  travel,  and  he  stumbled  and 
fell,  throwing  me  off  on  the  down-hill  side. 

In  the  fall  my  saddle-bags  fell  over  on  to  me,  and 
the  loop  through  which  the  stirrup-leather  passed 
caught  over  my  spur,  and  held  my  foot  fast  in  the  stir- 
rup. The  horse  struggled,  and  attempted  to  rise;  if  he 
had  done  so  I  should  have  been  heels  upward,  and  if  he 
had  struggled  and  floundered,  or  taken  fright  and  run,  I 
should  have  been  killed;  but  he  obeyed  my  gentle  and 
soothing  "whoa,"  and  lay  still  till  I  got  my  foot  clear 
from  the  stirrup,  when,  at  my  bidding,  he  rose,  and  I 
again  mounted  him. 

I  reached  the  Ohio  Eiver  at  Georgetown,  forty  miles, 
but  at  too  late  an  hour  to  cross  that  night,  and  the  next 
morning  the  river,  up  which  General  Jackson  and  suite 
sailed  but  three  days  before,  was  now  full  of  running 
ice.     It  was  late  in  the  day,  and  at  the  risk  of  life  at 


346  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

that,  before  I  could  reach  the  other  shore;  but  once 
over  I  reached  home  in  safety,  to  stay  a  week,  after  an 
absence  of  three  months. 

In  the  course  of  this  year  I  married  W.  Long,  one 
of  my  leaders,  to  his  amiable  and  pious  wife,  the  oldest 
issue  of  which  marriage  was  afterward  a  missionary  in 
Bulgaria.  The  father  has,  for  many  years,  been  a  wor- 
thy member  of  the  Pittsburg  Conference.  Out  of  that 
revival,  I  have  been  informed,  some  six  or  eight  preach- 
ers, traveling  and  local,  have  honored  the  Church  and 
blessed  the  world. 

The  year,  on  the  whole,  was  a  very  pleasant  one, 
except  the  long  absence  from  home.  When,  as  is  usual 
at  the  close  of  the  year,  the  question  came  up  as  to  my 
return  for  a  second  term,  those  who  were  so  frightened 
at  nrv  coming  now  desired  my  return.  They  said  if  I 
was  the  hardest  "old  side"  case  in  the  Conference,  they 
saw  no  necessitj-  for  a  "  reform,"  to  get  rid  of  tyranny  in 
the  government  of  the  Church. 

While  in  Washington,  as  I  have  stated,  I  succeeded 
Asa  Shinn,  the  champion  of  Radicalism.  In  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  of  1828,  when  the  able  and  unanswer- 
able report  of  Doctor  (afterward  Bishop)  Emory  was 
presented,  in  which  Radicalism  received  a  quietus,  Shinn 
moved  for  its  adoption,  and  the  printing  of  five  thou- 
sand copies  for  gratuitous  circulation.  This  motion  was 
regarded  a  most  singular  one,  and  bore  that  cognomen 
as  long  as  it  was  remembered. 

After  Shinn  went  to  Cincinnati,  as  heretofore  stated, 
and  took  charge  of  the  secessionists  there,  he  came  out 
with  a  pamphlet  defense  of  his  "singular  motion,"  in 
which  he  attempted  to  justify  it,  by  saying  that  he 
wanted  to  get  it  into  print  that  he  might  refute  it,  and 
attempted  its  refutation. 

This  defense  I  reviewed  in  the  "Itinerant,"  a  semi- 
monthly journal,  edited,  in  part,  by  Dr.  T.  E.  Bond,  in 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  347 

Baltimore,  over  the  signature  of  "Silas  Hopewell."  I 
also  wrote  several  other  articles  for  the  same  paper,  in 
opposition  to  Radicalism. 

The  -'Itinerant"  came  to  Washington,  of  course,  and 
those  tinctured  with  Radicalism  read  the  review,  and 
the  other  articles,  but  could  not  imagine  who  "Silas 
Hopewell  "  was.  At  length  one  article  contained  an 
allusion  to  some  facts  having  a  local  bearing,  when  a 
suspicion  rose  that  the  veritable  "Silas  Hopewell"  must 
live  in  or  near  that  place.  Charles  (now  Dr.)  Cook,  of 
the  Pittsburg  (now  Philadelphia)  Conference,  who  had 
been  upon  the  fence  on  this  Eadical  question,  undertook 
to  ferret  out  the  writer.  He  came  to  my  room,  and  so 
questioned  me  that  I  was  obliged  to  "own  up,"  or  deny 
the  truth  ;  the  latter  I  would  not  do,  and,  of  course,  con- 
fessed the  authorship.  He  made  no  objections,  nor  at- 
tempted any  reply  to  my  arguments ;  but  as  soon  as  the 
mail  could  convey  the  intelligence,  either  from  him  or 
some  one  to  whom  he  told  the  wonderful  discovery, 
to  George  Brown,  he  published  it  in  the  "Mutual 
Eights,"  with,  apparently,  as  much  rejoicing  as  if  he  had 
discovered  a  rich  mine,  or  great  fortune;  just  as  if  the 
name  of  the  writer  made  any  difference  in  the  force  of 
the  argument. 

The  Pittsburg  Conference  for  1829  met  in  Wheel- 
ing, Ya.  For  some  years  the  sitting  of  Conference 
with  closed  doors  had  been  laid  aside,  and  friend  and 
foe  had  been  permitted  to  listen  to  our  discussions. 
But  an  occurrence  at  this  Conference  brought  up  the 
question  of  returning  to  the  ancient  usage  in  the  mat- 
ter, and  admit  none  but  members,  not  even  probation- 
ers, local  preachers,  or  lay  members.  The  case  alluded 
to  was  this:  A  boatman  on  the  Ohio  Eiver  who  made 
a  short  stop  at  the  landing,  and  hearing  that  the  Meth- 
odist Conference  was  in  session,  thought  he  would  take 
a  look  at  the  black  coats. 


348  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  subject  upon  the  tapis  when  he  came,  and  to 
which  he  listened  perhaps  five  or  ten  minutes,  was  an 
objection  to  a  preacher  who  was  a  great  horse-trader, 
as  being  derogatory  to  the  character  of  a  minister  of 
the  Gospel.  The  boatman,  on  returning  to  his  boat, 
was  asked  what  they  were  doing  at  the  Conference. 

"O,"  said  he,  "they  are  trying  a  preacher." 

"What  is  the  charge  against  him?" 

"O,  I  don't  know,  I  believe  it's  a  woman  scrape." 

This  reaching  the  ear  of  some  sensitive  old  brother, 
he  moved  to  sit  with  closed  doors.  The  motion  met 
with  strong  opposition,  and  was  modified  so  as  to  admit 
probationers,  local  preachers,  and  lay  members,  but  to 
exclude  all  who  were  not  members  of  the  Church,  of 
some  grade.  This  carried,  and  for  one  clay  was  ob- 
served, when  it  was  discovered  that  we  had  friends 
who  were  not  members,  and  yet  took  great  interest  in 
our  affairs,  who,  under  the  rule,  must  be  excluded. 
This  was  doing  a  greater  evil  to  guard  against  a  less 
one,  which  would  probably  not  occur  once  in  an  age — 
a  misrepresentation  of  such  a  foolish  and  glaring  char- 
acter, as  to  refute  itself,  and  the  rule  was  dropped,  and 
became  a  dead  letter  on  the  record. 

On  the  Sunday  of  this  Conference,  it  fell  to  me  to 
preach  in  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  the  pastor 
of  which  was  what  is  called  Low  Church,  or  who  be- 
lieved and  taught  experimental  religion;  and  to  aid 
him,  I  preached  upon,  and  explained  the  doctrine  of 
justification  by  faith  and  the  witness  of  the  Spirit, 
which  seemed  to  be  relished  much  by  both  the  pastor 
and  his  flock. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  349 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

AT  the  Wheeling  Conference  (1829)  I  was  appointed 
to  New  Lisbon  circuit,  to  follow  George  Brown, 
who  was  another  champion  of  Eadicalism,  and  had 
tried  to  cany  off  the  whole  circuit,  containing  seven  or 
eight  hundred  members  with  him,  when  he  seceded. 
W.  C.  Henderson,  a  valuable  brother,  was  my  colleague, 
and  truly  a  helpmate. 

Our  circuit  lay  in  Columbiana  county,  Ohio,  having 
one  or  two  appointments  in  the  edge  of  Pennsylvania, 
near  Greensburg,  now  Darlington.  Brown  had,  at  one 
time,  got  the  whole  circuit  to  secede  with  him  and  join 
the  Radicals.  But  the  women  were  said  to  be  the  first 
to  awake,  and  roused  up  the  men  to  inquire  what  they 
had  been  doing.  The  result  was  they  disannulled  what 
they  had  done,  and  remained  in  the  Church.  Brown 
then  tried  his  skill  on  the  principal  society  which  was 
in  New  Lisbon,  seventy  or  eighty  strong,  and  succeeded 
in  getting  them  to  agree  to  go,  and  left  the  circuit  in 
this  plight. 

The  same  old  and  stale  stories  of  "the  rod  of  iron" 
preceded  me  here,  and  the  people  expected  a  regu- 
lar war,  a  hand-to-hand  combat;  and  if  the  Radical 
preachers  had  just  then  come  on,  probably  they  would 
have  succeeded  in  getting  the  most  if  not  all  of  this 
large  society.  But  instead  of  its  being  an  injury  to 
me  and  our  cause,  the  reaction  worked  for  our  good; 
for  they  got  to  see  that  if  I  was  the  hardest  case  in 
the  Conference,  they  had  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
oppressions  or  tyrannies  of  the  preachers. 

In  their  agreement  to  go,  they  had  forgotten  to 
withdraw  from  the  Church,  and  I  found  their  names 


350  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

on  the  Church  records  as  yet  in  the  membership.  I 
reminded  them  of  this  forgetful  ness,  and  told  them  that 
I  should  throw  my  arms  around  them,  and  act  as  their 
pastor,  till  such  times  as  they  regularly  withdrew;  but 
advised  them  to  look  before  they  took  a  leap  in  the 
dark.  If  they  really  wished  to  go  from  us,  they  could 
do  so;  there  was  no  compulsion;  they  came  in  volun- 
tarily, and  they  remained  in  on  the  same  principle. 
And  they  concluded  to  remain  awhile  and  see  how 
things  would  work. 

There  is  and  can  be  nothing  meaner  and  more  con- 
temptible, than  for  men  to  eat  the  bread  of  the  Church, 
and  be  clothed  by  her  generosity,  and  then  use  the 
strength  derived  therefrom,  and  also  the  influence  of 
the  position  she  gave  them  to  corrupt,  pervert,  and 
ruin  the  very  Church  that  did  this.  It  is  exactly  in 
keeping  with  the  course  pursued  by  the  leaders  in  the 
present  pro-slavery  rebellion  in  the  Southern  States. 
But  bad,  nay,  as  horrible  as  it  is,  the  charge  justly  lies 
at  the  door  of  the  said  George  Brown  in  this  circuit. 

The  Church  in  New  Lisbon  was  properly  secured  to 
the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  and  of  course  could 
not  be  taken  if  they  went  from  us.  The  seating  had 
not  yet  been  done ;  only  loose  boards  to  sit  upon.  I 
proposed  to  have  it  finished,  and  called  a  meeting  of 
the  trustees  to  make  arrangements  for  it.  This  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis.  They  must  now  go,  or  stay.  If 
they  went,  they  could  not  be  trustees  nor  act  as  such, 
and  would  not  give  their  money  to  finish  the  house, 
and  then  leave  it. 

They  gave  me  no  decisive  or  positive  answer,  and 
I  left  them  to  consider.  After  I  left  they  consulted 
together.  One  said,  "I  have  always  understood  that 
Brunson  is  the  hardest  case  in  the  Conference ;  the 
stiffest  'old-side'  stickler,  and  that  he  rules  with  a  rod 
of  iron,  and  whatever  do  n't  bend  before  him  must  break ; 


REV.   ALFRED   BRUNSON.  351 

but  if  his  course  among  us  so  far  is  a  specimen  of  the 
tyranny  we  have  heard  so  much  about — and  we  know 
that  he  was  sent  here  to  cure  us  of  Eadicalism,  or  put  us 
out  of  the  Church— I  for  one  am  not  going  to  leave." 
"  Nor  I,  nor  I,"  went  round  the  meeting,  and  before  I  got 
round  again  they  had  commenced  to  finish  the  church. 

And  when  C.  Springer  came  on  to  take  charge  of 
what  he  supposed,  from  the  representations  made  by 
Brown,  was  one  of  their  best  stations,  they  promptly 
told  him  they  should  not  leave  their  mother  to  go  with 
strangers  of  whom  they  knew  nothing;  and  he  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  onty  three  on  the  whole  circuit,  of 
near  eight  hundred  members,  and  they  had  neither 
money  nor  influence,  and  were  never  more  looked  after, 
at  least  while  1  was  in  that  region,  which  was  several 
years,  off  and  on. 

In  New  Lisbon  were  then  about  twenty-five  hun- 
dred souls,  and  a  Campbellite  preacher  by  the  name  of 
Scott,  commonly  called  "Campbell's  recruiting  Ser- 
geant," from  his  activity  and  success  in  proselyting 
people  to  a  water  mode  of  salvation.  He  taught  school 
for  a  living,  and  preached  on  Sundays.  He  was  one 
of  those  harum-scarum  kind  of  men,  who  are  reckless, 
daring,  and  browbeating  in  manner  and  habit,  and  a 
kind  of  dare-devil. 

He  was  in  the  habit  of  challenging  all  who  dis- 
sented from  his  views,  and  doing  it,  too,  in  such  a 
braggadocio  style  that  no  one  had  dared  to  accept  his 
challenge.  It  was  said  that  one  Methodist  preacher 
had  determined  to  accept  the  challenge  and  meet  him, 
and  went  to  his  meeting  to  do  so;  but  on  the  way  met 
a  Presbyterian  minister,  who  persuaded  him  not  to  do 
it.  Both,  however,  went  to  hear  Scott,  who  challenged 
them  both,  or  either  of  them,  before  the  audience,  but 
neither  accepted  it.  This  course  of  events  seemed  to 
impress  the  public  mind  with  the  idea  that  Scott  must 


352  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

have  the  best  of  the  argument,  or  surely  some  one 
would  meet  and  refute  him. 

I  had  never  come  in  contact  with  the  Campbellites 
directly,  though  they  were  flourishing  considerably 
within  the  range  of  my  travels,  and  I  had  met  Camp- 
bell himself  once  or  twice.  My  views  were  to  live  and 
let  live;  to  allow  others  the  same  rights  and  privileges 
of  worship  that  I  claimed  for  myself.  So,  in  reference 
to  that  people,  I  adopted  the  advice  of  Gamaliel  to  the 
Jewish  Sanhedrim,  to  let  them  alone.  If  the  work  was 
of  God,  I  knew  that  I  could  not  overthrow  it,  and  if  it 
was  of  man — which  I  believed  to  be  the  case — it  would 
come  to  naught  of  itself. 

But  a  local  preacher  of  my  charge,  who  was  raised 
a  Quaker,  had  no  definite  ideas  of  baptism.  He  re- 
ceived that  ordinance  by  effusion  on  coming  into  the 
Church,  because  it  was  our  rule;  but  had  never  in- 
quired into  the  subject,  as  to  its  nature,  design,  mode, 
or  the  subjects  of  it,  and  hearing  so  much  said  about  it 
by  the  Campbellites,  as  if  it  was  the  only  way  to  heaven, 
he  became  somewhat  interested  in  the  matter,  and  de- 
sired Scott  to  preach  on  the  subject;  which  he  did  on 
a  Sunda}'  night  when  I  was  in  town.  He  gave  notice 
at  his  morning  service  of  the  intended  discourse,  and 
that  it  was  at  the  request  of  a  Methodist  preacher, 
whom  he  expected  to  baptize — meaning  by  immersion — 
that  night. 

This,  of  course,  drew  out  a  crowd,  and  I  among  the 
rest,  for  I  thought  if  he  was  thus  encroaching  upon  my 
charge,  it  was  time  for  me  to  stand  on  the  defensive. 
I  took  notes  of  the  discourse,  and  gave  out  that  I 
would  reply  to  it  when  I  came  round  again  in  four 
weeks.  lie  did  not,  however,  baptize  the  preacher  that 
night. 

There  were  but  very  few  who  took  any  notice  of  me 
or  my  appointment.     The  fact  was  Scott  had  bragged 


REV.    ALFRED     BRUNSON.  353 

and  browbeat  every  body  so  unmercifully  upon  the  sub- 
ject, that  not  onl}r  the  public,  but  our  membership 
generally,  thought  it  would  be  dangerous  for  a  man  to 
fall  into  his  hands.  And  my  principal  steward  was  so 
sure  that  I  should  fall  before  this  Goliah,  that  he 
objected  to  my  rcpl}*ing  to  him,  alleging  that  there  had 
been  as  able,  and,  as  he  thought,  abler  men  of  our  and 
other  Churches  there,  than  I  was,  who  dared  not  grap- 
ple with  him,  and  he  thought  it  temerity  in  me  to  do 
so;  and  when  the  time  came  for  me  to  preach  it,  he 
found  an  excuse  to  stay  at  home,  rather  than  suffer  the 
mortification  of  seeing  me  floored  by  my  antagonist. 

When  the  time  came  round,  I  gave  out  at  the 
morning  service  that  I  should  reply  to  Scott  at  three 
o'clock  that  afternoon.  But  the  congregation  was  small. 
The  Methodists  were  not  all  out,  nor  many  outsiders, 
and  but  few  Campbellites. 

The  common  burden  of  discourse  with  the  immer- 
sionists  is,  "one  faith,  one  baptism"  and  I  began  by 
declaring  that  the  Scriptures  taught  and  recognized 
seven  kinds  of  baptism,  and  said,  "If  I  do  not  prove  it, 
book,  chapter,  and  verse,  you  may  brand  me  for  a 
novice."  Their  strong  ground  lay  in  the  idea  of  there 
being  but  one  baptism,  which  they  applied  to  the  mode ; 
and  if  I  could  prove  more  than  one,  it  would  knock 
their  foundation  out,  and  their  building  must  fall.  As 
a  consequence  all  eyes  were  fixed  upon  me,  and  every 
ear  was  open  to  hear  what  I  said. 

By  the  time  I  had  proved  three  of  them,  I  could 
feel  in  the  moral  atmosphere  of  the  house  that  the 
congregation,  generally,  yielded  assent  to  my  position  ; 
that  the  Campbellites  who  were  present,  cowered  and 
sunk  before  the  truths  presented,  and  what  few  people 
were  present  seemed  to  me  to  be  like  so  many  blocks 
of  wood  upon  a  calm  pond,  ready  to  go  which  ever  way 
the  wind  blew;  and  by  the  time  I  had  proved  the  seven 

30 


354  A    WESTERN    PIONEER 

kinds  of  baptism,  all  eyes,  except  the  Campbellites, 
whose  heads  were  down,  seemed  to  dance  in  their 
sockets  for  joy;  and  all  that  followed  in  a  discourse  of 
near  two  hours  in  length,  seemed  to  be  readily  received 
and  believed. 

When  I  had  closed  and  dismissed  the  congregation 
the  local  preacher,  and  what  few  members  were  present, 
came  around  me  as  they  never  had  before.  The 
preacher  said  if  they  had  had  such  preaching  before, 
the  Campbellites  would  never  have  got  the  foothold 
they  had. 

When  my  frightened  steward  heard  how  I  came 
out,  he  regretted  exceedingly  that  he  had  not  been 
present.  A  Doctor  of  Medicine,  not  a  professor  of  re- 
ligion, but  of  Presbyterian  proclivities,  went  through 
the  streets  swearing  that  the  discourse  was  as  strong  as 
the  everlasting  hills,  and  he  would  give  twenty  dollars 
for  a  copy  of  it.  All  except  the  Campbellites  were  so 
excited  with  joy  that  they  could  neither  sit  nor  stand 
still.  The  brother  with  whom  I  lodged,  when  he  got 
home,  walked  the  floor  back  and  forth,  and  wondered 
why  they  had  never  had  such  preaching  before.  If  this 
had  been  done,  the  immersionists  would  not  have  over- 
ridden every  thing  and  every  body  as  the}7  had.  And 
it  would  seem,  from  what  followed,  that  the  news  of 
the  discourse  was  all  over  the  town  that  night,  for  the 
next  morning,  as  I  rode  out  of  town,  most  of  the  people 
who  saw  me,  including  the  boys  in  their  shop-doors, 
looked  good-naturedly  at  me. 

I  left  word  that  as  we  had  had  turn  about,  if  he 
would  quit  I  would;  but  if  he  preached  again  on  the 
subject  I  would  blow  him  sky-high,  and  engaged  an 
intelligent  brother  to  take  notes  if  he  did  preach. 

I  was  informed  that  Scott's  members  who  were 
present  to  hear  me,  told  him  that  he  must  reply,  and  do 
something  too,  or  his  cause  was  prostrate  in  that  place; 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  355 

and  to  save  that,  he  gave  out  the  next  Sunday  morn- 
ing that  at  night  he  would  answer  my  discourse.  The 
excitement  was  now  up  to  such  a  pitch  that  he  had  a 
crowded  house;  but  he  made  a  perfect  failure,  so  much 
so  that  his  friends  hung  their  heads,  and  others  were 
disgusted.  He  did  not  answer  a  single  argument  of 
mine,  nor  attempt  to  4p  so,  but  pleaded  for  peace  and  a 
cessation  of  the  controversy.  He  said  that  the  Meth- 
odists and  the  Baptists  were  the  nearest  alike  of  any 
of  the  Christian  denominations,  and  they  should  not 
quarrel;  they  had  but  little  religion,  but  more  than 
any  other  professors  in  the  town.  As  for  the  Presby- 
terians, he  said,  they  "were  hooted  at.  The  lawyers," 
he  continued,  "  were  the  best  Christians  in  town,  and 
us  a  proof  of  it,  he  said  they  would,  though  pitted 
against  each  other,  assist  each  other  at  the  bar  in  hunt- 
ing up  their  authorities."     A  wonderful  sign  of  piety ! 

At  the  time  of  my  next  round  my  quarterly -meet- 
ing came  off,  and  I  had  to  preach  the  Friday  night 
before.  As  our  church  was  being  finished,  and  could 
not  be  occupied,  and  if  it  could,  it  was  not  deemed 
to  be  large  enough  to  hold  the  expected  congregation, 
as  the  whole  town  was  now  on  tiptoe  to  hear  the  con- 
troversy, so  our  friends  secured  the  court-house  for  the 
occasion. 

When  I  entered  the  house,  it  was  through  a  dense 
crowd,  and  hundreds  were  standing  about  the  doors 
and  open  windows.  A  dozen  or  so  of  lawyers  and 
doctors  were  seated  round  the  counsel  table,  with  lights, 
pens,  ink,  and  paper  to  take  notes,  and  Scott,  with  a 
pile  of  books,  occupied  one  end  of  the  table.  I  saw 
at  a  glance  the  responsibility  that  rested  upon  me. 
If  I  fell  before  this  Goliah  of  Campbellism,  our  cause 
was  gone  for  that  place ;  if  he  fell,  the  salvation  of  the 
world  by  grace  instead  of  water,  would  be  more  hope- 
ful.    But  believing  that  our  cause  was  the  cause  of  God, 


356  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

I  raised  my  heart  to  him  for  help,  and  I  trust  had  it. 
The  responsibility  that  I  felt  resting  upon  me  produced 
a  kind  of  inward  fever,  and  I  called  for  some  water, 
which  was  at  once  produced. 

I  opened  by  reading  and  singing  the  hymn  begin- 
ning with, 

"Jesus,  great  Shepherd %f  the  sheep, 
To  thee  for  help  we  fly ; 
Thy  little  flock  in  safety  keep, 
For,  0,  the  wolf  is  nigh." 

As  I  read  the  last  line  I  looked  down  upon  Scott,  and  a 
wag  afterward  said  that  he  was  so  scared  that  his  cars 
lopped,  under  the  withering  allusion. 

I  took  up  the  same  subject  as  before,  only  greatly 
enlarged.  I  had  written  out  over  one  hundred  texts,  at 
full  length,  with  book,  chapter,  and  verse,  so  as  to  make 
no  mistake.  I  replied  to  his  plea  for  charity  by  re- 
marking that  his  system  had  no  charity  for  others,  for 
he  preached  that  baptism  by  immersion,  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sin,  was  essential  to  salvation.  If  it  was  so,  then 
all  infants  must  be  lost,  for  them  he  would  not  baptize; 
and  all  Methodists,  Presbyterians,  Congregationalists, 
Quakers,  and,  indeed,  the  old-fashioned  Baptists,  (who, 
by  the  way,  were  a  respectable  people  compared  with 
these  Campbellites,)  and  were  baptized  on  profession 
of  faith,  not  to  wash  away  their  sins;  all,  all,  must 
go,  head  and  heels,  into  hell,  because  they  had  not  been 
put,  head  and  heels,  into  the  water  by  a  Campbellite 
preacher,  for  the  remission  of  their  sins;  and  if  this 
is  a  specimen  of  the  gentleman's  charity,  I  say,  with 
the  Churchman,  "from  such,  good  Lord,  deliver  us." 

His  commendation  of  the  lawyer's  religion  reminded 
me  of  the  unjust  steward,  in  the  parable,  who  expected 
to  be  ousted  from  his  office,  and  defrauded  his  employer 
to  secure  the  friendship  of  his  debtors  ;  and  so,  it  seemed 
to  me,  this  champion  of  error,  fearing  his  old  friends 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  357 

and  adherents  would  cast  him  off,  wished  to  make 
friends  somewhere,  but  I  had  too  high  a  respect  for  the 
gentlemen  of  the  bar  to  think  for  a  moment  that  such 
a  bait  would  take  with  them. 

I  said,  further,  that  I  had  been  informed  that  the 
gentleman  had  been  baptized  three  times  ;  first,  when 
an  infant,  in  the  Presbyterian  Church  ;  second,  by  the 
Baptist,  on  profession  of  faith,  and  that  his  sins  had 
been  pardoned;  and  third,  after  he  had  fallen  into  this 
Campbellite  delusion  of  washing  away  sin  by  water.  A 
lady  in  this  town — she  was  then  present — suggested  to 
him  that  baptism  was  for  the  remission  of  sins,  and  that 
his  former  baptism,  meaning  among  the  old  Baptists, 
was  on  profession  of  faith,  and  not  for  the  remission  of 
sin,  and,  therefore,  was  not  valid,  and  asked  him  if  it 
was.  He  saw  at  once  that  if  his  present  doctrine  was 
true  his  former  baptism  on. profession  of  faith  was  not 
good;  and  so  he  said  he  would  go  at  once  and  be  bap- 
tized for  the  remission  of  sin.  Away  lie  and  sixteen 
others  went,  down  to  the  Little  Beaver  Creek,  one  cold 
night  in  February,  and  one  of  them  first  put  our  hero 
under  the  water  for  the  remission  of  his  sins,  and  then 
he  turned  round  and  did  the  same  service  for  the  six- 
teen others,  all  of  whom  had  been  previously  immersed 
on  their  profession  of  having  obtained  from  God  the  re- 
mission of  their  sins,  but  by  this  act  denying  it. 

Now,  said  I,  this  man  had  been  preaching  to  you 
before  this  as  a  minister  of  Christ,  professing  to  have 
obtained  pardon  from  God;  but  by  this  act  he  virtually 
acknowledged  that  he  had  lied  when  he  made  that  pro- 
fession ;  and  what  evidence  have  you  that  he  tells  you 
the  truth  now?  Once  guilty,  twice  suspected,  is  the  old 
adnge.  If  he  never  obtained  pardon  except  in  his  bap- 
tism that  cold  night,  I  will  assure  you  that  he  is  yet  in 
his  sins  ;  and  if  he  came  to  you  before  with  false  profes- 
sions, what  assurance  have  3'ou  that  he  is  not  false  now  ? 


358  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Further,  it  is  a  part  of  their  creed  that  the  baptizer 
must  have  been  first  baptized  for  the  remission  of  his 
sins,  before  he  can  confer,  or  impart,  remission  to  others. 
To  say  nothing  of  the  question  as  to  who  baptized  the 
first  one  for  this  purpose,  or  where  this  tirade  had  its 
beginning,  in  this  case  the  person  who  baptized  our 
hero  was  not  so  baptized  till  after  he  performed  the 
office  lor  him;  and  if  the  remission  depended  upon  the 
right  baptism  of  the  baptizer,  then  our  hero's  sins  were 
not  remitted,  after  all,  nor  were  the  sins  of  those  he 
bajjtized. 

I  occupied  about  two  and  a  half  hours,  and  the  peo- 
ple were  very  attentive  and  patient.  I  then  gave  him 
an  opportunity  to  reply,  if  he  chose  to  do  so,  and  the 
first  thing  lie  attempted  was  to  get  rid  of  my  remarks 
upon  his  charity.  He  demanded  of  me  my  authority 
for  saying  that  he  preached  that  baptism  was  essential 
to  salvation  ? 

I  replied,  "By  common  report,  and  from  your 
books." 

"That  is  not  sufficient.  I  must  have  better  evidence 
than  that.  Is  there  any  gentleman  here  who  dares  wit- 
ness that  he  ever  heard  me  preach  it?  If  there  is,  I  '11 
make  him  prove  it  to-morrow  morning  before  the 
magistrate." 

At  this  more  than  twenty  spoke  out,  and  said  that 
they  had  heard  him  preach  it.  One  of  them  rose  to  his 
feet  and  said,  "  Sir,  I  heard  you  preach  it;  and  you  said, 
further,  that  if  the  angel  Gabriel  were  to  preach  any 
other  doctrine  you  would  spit  in  his  face." 

At  this  he  quailed;  but  said  nothing  more  about 
making  them  prove  it  before  the  magistrate. 

"Now,  sir,"  said  I,  "to  settle  this  question,  will  you 
now  say  that  baptism  is  not  essential  to  salvation  ?  Will 
you  admit  that  persons  may  obtain  pardon  for-sin,  and 
be  saved,  without  being  baptized?" 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  359 

"No,"  he  said  he  would  not;  and  went  on,  in  his 
way,  to  prove  that  it  was  essential. 

At  this  half  or  two-thirds  of  the  congregation  left 
the  house;  though  he  kept  hobbling  along  for  half  an 
hour,  the  people  were  constantly  dropping  off  and  leav- 
ing, and  he  sat  down;  whereupon  I  arose  and  said,  that 
as  he  had  said  nothing  to  require  a  rejoinder,  I  should 
dismiss  the  audience  with  the  benediction,  and  did  so. 

It  was  amusing  and  interesting,  the  next  morning, 
to  see  the  groups  of  men  in  the  streets  discussing  the 
question  in  debate ;  but  it  was  a  death-blow  to  Camp- 
bellism  in  that  place,  for  at  least  two  years.  I  was  in- 
formed that  its  adherents  wrote  to  Campbell  himself  to 
come  and  save  his  cause,  but  he  declined;  and  it  was 
two  years  before  they  could  make  any  show  for  a  big 
meeting  there. 

I  was  now  in  for  the  war,  and  was  called  on  to 
preach  the  same  discourse  all  round  the  country  where 
Campbellism  had  gained  any  foothold,  and  with  the 
same  effect.  The  call  for  this  discourse  was  not  con- 
fined to  my  circuit  for  this  year,  but  for  three  years 
after,  and  on  as  many  different  circuits,  where  the  fame 
of  it  had  gone,  I  was  called  on  to  preach  it,  and  invari- 
ably, as  I  was  informed,  with  a  similar  effect.  Nothing 
but  my  removal  to  fields  of  labor  beyond  the  reach  and 
influence  of  the  ism,  seemed  to  limit  the  call. 

They  are  a  people  who  use  much  sarcasm;  indeed, 
this  seems  to  be  their  chief  weapon.  They  talk  flip- 
pantly about  baby  sprinkling,  etc.,  and,  in  accordance 
with  the  direction  of  Solomon,  to  "answer  a  fool  ac- 
cording to  his  folly,  lest  he  be  wise  m  his  own  conceit," 
and  also,  with  "the  mete  that  ye  measure  it  shall  be 
measured  to  you  again,"  so  I  dealt  them  blows  of  their 
own  coining.  I  told  them  that  "it  was  a  strange  coin- 
cidence that  when  the  devil  got  into  the  hogs  they  ran 
violently  down  the  mountain  into  the  sea;   and  when 


360  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

Campbellism  got  into  the  people,  they  ran  down  the 
hill  into  a  brook,  or  mill-pond.  I  do  not  say  that  the 
devil  is  in  them,  but  I  say  it  is  a  wonderful  eoineidence." 

At  one  of  our  quarterly-meetings,  this  year,  held  in 
the  Quaker  meeting-house  in  Salem,  while  I  was  preach- 
ing, at  three  o'clock,  P.  M.,  on  the  general  judgment,  it 
so  happened  that  a  tremendous  thunder  storm  came 
over  the  place.  The  house  wras  crowded  and  warm,  the 
doors  and  windows  having  to  be  kept  shut,  to  keep  out 
the  storm,  and  the  noise  of  the  thunder  outside  required 
loud  speaking  inside  to  be  heard;  but  the  scene  outside 
tended  to  make  the  scene  inside  of  the  house  the  more 
impressive,  and  though  it  was  not  equal  to  the  similar 
scene  with  Benjamin  Abbott,  yet  several  were  said  to 
have  been  awakened  under  the  discourse,  who  sought 
and  found  pardoning  mercy ;  one  of  whom  recently  died 
not  far  from  my  residence,  in  the  triumphs  of  faith. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  myself  and  colleague 
gathered  money,  and  distributed  twenty -five  thousand 
pages  of  tracts  among  our  people.  AVe  had  no  general 
revivals,  but  now  and  then  a  conversion,  so  that,  in  the 
end,  we  had  not  only  made  up  for  the  loss  by  deaths, 
expulsions,  and  removals,  but  had  a  respectable  increase 
in  the  membership,  besides  saving  them  from  the  delu- 
sions of  Radicalism. 

I  also  continued  my  communications  to  the  "Itiner- 
ant," so  as  to  have  one  on  hand  for  each  number,  once 
in  two  weeks,  most  of  the  year.  The  circuit  had  thirty- 
three  appointments,  which  were  filled  once  in  four 
weeks  by  each  of  us.  They  were  so  arranged  as  to  be 
filled  in  three  weeks  and  one  day,  leaving  me  one  week 
out  of  the  four,  between  Sundays,  to  visit  my  family,  by 
going  home  on  Monday,  thirty-three  miles,  and  return- 
ing on  Saturday,  twenty-seven  miles. 

I  read  and  wrote  so  much  this  year  that,  notwith- 
standing the  amount  of  travel  and  preaching  I  had  to 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  361 

do,  the  dyspepsia  bore  down  upon  me  with  a  heavy 
hand,  and  I  became  so  enfeebled  that  I  could  not  sit  up 
all  day.  I  would  get  off  the  bed  or  lounge,  and  ride  to 
my  appointment  and  preach,  and  then  take  to  my  bed 
again.  At  last,  coming  near  New  Lisbon,  on  Friday, 
after  preaching,  I  rode  five  miles,  into  town,  and  con- 
sulted Dr.  M'Cook,  the  most  celebrated  plrpsician  in  that 
place.  He  said  there  was  no  use  in  taking  large  doses 
of  medicine  ;  they  would  give  temporary  relief  by  stim- 
ulating the  digestive  organs  to  excess,  and  then  the  re- 
action would  leave  them  worse  than  before.  The  dis- 
ease consisted  entirely  of  weakness  in  the  digestive 
organs,  and  the  only  remedy  of  any  use,  permanently, 
Was  gentle  tonics,  thrown  into  the  stomach  in  small 
doses,  just  enough  to  assist  Nature  in  performing  her 
natural  functions.  If  necessary,  he  said  to  chew  a  little 
rhubarb  and  swallow  it,  and  chew  and  swallow  gentian- 
root,  and  take  small  doses  of  quinine  in  substance. 

I  said,  "  Doctor,  my  spirits  get  low;  can  't  you  give 
me  something  to  keep  them  up?" 

"  O,  that  belongs  to  your  complaint ;  for  a  tempo- 
rary relief,  use  a  little  brandy." 

"I  don't  like  that;  is  there  nothing  else  that  will 
do  as  well?" 

"Why,  your  creed  will  let  you  use  it  for  medicine." 

"Yes,  but  if  there  is  any  thing  else  that  will  do  as 
well,  I  would  rather  use  it." 

"Well,  use  horse-radish,  then." 

I  went  to  my  lodgings  and.  called  for  some  horse- 
radish, and  the  good  brother  soon  procured  a  supply, 
and  when  grated  and  mixed  with  vinegar,  a  table- 
spoonful,  if  there  was  acid  on  my  stomach,  would  neu- 
tralize it,  and  it  operated  like  so  much  epsom  salts; 
but  if  there  was  no  aoid,  such  effect  would  not  occur. 
I  used  it  at  supper  on  Friday,  and  three  times  at 
meals  on   Saturday,  and   on   Sunday.     I  improved  so 

31 


362  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

fast  that  on  Sunday  I  preached  twice,  and  met  class ; 
and  on  Monday  rode  home,  thirty-three  miles.  I  found 
that  this  was  the  remedy  for  me,  and  when  the  radish 
could  not  be  had,  the  vinegar,  diluted  with  water,  an- 
swered nearly  as  well.  I  soon  could  eat  an}-  farmer's 
food,  and  by  observing  what  I  could  eat  without  bad 
effects,  and  eating  that  only,  abstaining  from  that  which 
injured  me,  by  this  mode  of  living  I  have  kept  the  dis- 
ease at  bay  till  this  time. 

Sugar  in  tea  and  coffee,  and  the  fat  of  pork  did  not 
and  does  not  yet  agree  with  me ;  other  meats  relish 
and  set  well.  If  I  use  sweet  things,  I  must  take  vine- 
gar to  neutralize  it. 

I  had  used  the  pipe  for  thirteen  years,  by  direction 
of  a  physician,  for  my  throat,  to  promote  expectora- 
tion, but  my  doctor  now  told  me  I  must  quit  it.  If  I 
would  smoke  only  three  or  four  times  a  day,  I  might 
continue.  "But  you  will  do  more,  and,  therefore,  you 
must  quit  it  altogether."  I  did  so,  and  for  seven  years 
did  not  taste  of  tobacco.  But  after  I  came  to  Wiscon- 
sin, my  throat  complaint  returned  on  me  with  more 
violence  than  before.  For  three  weeks  I  could  not 
speak  above  a  whisper.  At  length  my  wife,  who 
smoked,  brought  me  a  pipe  lighted,  and  said  I  should 
smoke.  I  did  so,  and  was  soon  relieved ;  and  except 
at  a  few  intervals  of  a  few  months  each,  I  have  contin- 
ued to  use  the  pipe  till  this  day  from  necessity. 

In  1830  our  Conference  met  at  Uniontown,  Penn. 
At  that  session  we  had  some  trouble  about  Madison 
College,  located  in  that  town.  Henry  B.  Bascoin  had 
been  its  President,  but  was  so  unpopular  in  the  office 
that  it  became  necessary  for  a  change.  He  had  min- 
gled largel}T  with  the  Radicals,  and  wTas  said  to  be  the 
author  of  their  declaration  of  independence.  He  was 
certainly  a  scholar,  but  not  being  a  graduate  of  a  col- 
lege, a  feeling  among  graduates,  similar  to  the  "  Red 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  363 

Tape"  system  of  the  army,  which  excludes  any  but 
West-Pointers  from  promotion  or  special  favor,  if  possi- 
ble, seemed  to  prevail.  But  above  all  a  lack  of  finan- 
cial skill,  in  his  own  or  in  public  affairs,  by  which  the 
concern  was  hopelessly  in  debt,  and  owing  to  the  state 
of  things  named,  there  were  serious  objections  among 
our  people  to  contribute  to  sustain  the  College. 

The  matter  was  discussed  and  debated  for  two  days 
in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  when  Bascom,  seeing  that 
he  was  in  the  way,  tendered  his  resignation,  which  was 
accepted,  and  the  debate  ceased.  This  year  the  Con- 
ference met  there,  and  in  the  college  building,  with  a 
view,  if  possible,  to  save  it.  But  the  backset  it  had 
received  continued  its  downward  motion,  and  the  Col- 
lege passed  out  of  our  hands. 

The  College  was  got  up  by  our  Conference  to  supply 
a  growing  demand  of  our  people  for  the  means  of  edu- 
cation under  our  own  influences.  Many  of  our  people 
were  in  circumstances,  and  had  the  taste  and  inclina- 
tion to  give  their  sons  and  daughters  liberal  educations. 
Having  seen  many  of  the  children  of  Methodist  parents, 
who  were  educated  under  other  doctrinal  influences 
than  our  own,  and  come  from  college  or  the  academy 
alienated  from  the  Church  of  their  parents,  our  peo- 
ple called  for  schools  and  colleges  under  our  own  pat- 
ronage and  control,  and  to  meet  this  demand  this 
College  was  got  up ;  and  though  it  failed,  yet  we  were 
on  the  lookout  fur  another,  in  which  we  succeeded  a 
few  years  after. 

My  appointment  this  year  (1830)  was  to  Youngs- 
town  circuit,  with  Thomas  Carr  for  a  colleague.  This 
circuit  included  my  home,  and  I  being  well  known 
among  the  people,  none  of  the  iron-rod  stories  were 
afloat.  Radicalism  was  rampant  in  some  parts  of  it, 
which,  I  suppose,  was  the  principal  reason  for  my 
appointment,  though  accommodation,  after  three  years 


364  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

of  distant  appointments,  probably  had  something  to  do 
with  it. 

In  the  village  of  Youngstown,  where  the  Eadicals  had 
the  greatest  foothold,  we  had  two  churches.  The  old 
one  of  some  years  standing  becoming  too  small,  a  new 
one  was  built.  The  Eadicals  were  working  their  ma- 
chinery to  get  the  old  one,  if  not  the  new  one,  but  I 
headed  them  off  by  getting  up  a  petition  to  the  Legisla- 
ture for  an  act  to  authorize  the  trustees  to  sell  the  old 
one,  and  put  the  avails  of  it  into  the  new,  and  the  bill  was 
passed  and  became  a  law  before  the  Eadicals  had  any 
knowledge  of  what  was  going  on.  When  they  heard  of  it, 
they  tried  to  raise  a  fuss  and  got  up  a  remonstrance  to 
the  Legislature ;  but  they  were  too  late  for  one  thing, 
the  bill  had  become  a  law.  Another  thing  was,  they 
had  withdrawn  from  the  Church,  and,  of  course,  had  no 
interest  in  or  claim  on  the  property,  so  that  no  action 
was  had  upon  it.  When  they  found  their  failure,  they 
turned  upon  me  with  their  maledictions ;  but  as  our 
rights  were  secured,  and  nothing  more,  I  had  done 
them  no  harm.  By  leaving  the  Church  they  had  sur- 
rendered all  the  rights  they  ever  had  in  it.  This  ques- 
tion settled,  we  attended  to  our  own  business  and  let  them 
wax  and  wane,  as  is  natural  for  such  wild  vagaries. 

In  Canfield,  Eadicalism  had  got  some  foothold, 
though  it  had  not  yet  ripened  into  secession,  but,  as  a 
natural  consequence,  religion  was  at  a  very  low  ebb. 
Half,  or  more,  of  our  young  folks  had  backslid,  though 
they  yet  retained  the  form  of  religion. 

An  aged  and  venerable  brother,  a  local  preacher, 
who  gave  the  ground  on  which  the  church  was  built, 
had,  as  he  thought,  foreseen  the  possible  secession,  and 
feeling  a  little  inclined  to  go  with  the  seceders,  if  a  re- 
spectable number  went  off,  had  varied  the  form  of  the 
deed  from  that  of  the  Discipline,  by  inserting  "the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  on  Youngstown  circuit," 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  365 

instead  of  "the  United  States."  He  supposed  that  his 
personal  influence  would  carry  the  circuit  with  him. 
"When  he  found  that  the  circuit,  as  a  whole,  would  not 
go  off  with  the  Radicals,  he  would  not  go,  as  he  could 
not  take  the  Church  with  him.  But  his  low  state  of  re- 
ligion seemed  to  affect  the  whole  society. 

At  a  quarterly-meeting  in  the  church  on  Sunday 
night,  I  was  put  up  to  exhort  after  the  sermon.  I  never 
rose  in  a  pulpit  with  such  a  sense  of  the  responsibilities 
of  my  charge  resting  upon  me,  and  the  worth  of  souls. 
A  power  from  the  eternal  world  rested  upon  me,  and 
seemed  like  fire  in  my  bones,  and  in  my  soul;  what  I 
said  was  the  outflowing  of  such  feelings.  Being  accom- 
panied by  the  Divine  blessing,  a  solemn  and  powerful 
sense  of  the  Divine  presence  pervaded  the  assembly. 
Many  trembled  and  wept.  Some  broke  out  in  sobs  and 
cries,  and  a  sensible  movement  was  visible  in  the  con- 
gregation. When  I  invited  penitents  to  the  altar,  about 
thirty  came  forward,  the  most  of  whom  were  our  back- 
slidden young  folks,  and  about  twenty  were  reclaimed 
and  several  converted  that  night,  and  a  good  work 
continued  in  the  place  for  some  time.  This  was  death 
to  Eadicalism  in  that  place;  and  we  had  no  more 
trouble  from  that  source. 

The  next  day  our  local  brother  went  to  a  good  sister 
wThose  daughter  was  among  the  reclaimed,  and  said 
something  against  the  revival  as  being  only  an  excite- 
ment got  up  to  kill  off  "reform;"  thus  tacitly  admit- 
ting that  "  reform,"  improperly  so  called,  and  revivals 
of  religion,  did  not  harmonize.  But  the  good  sister, 
who  had  been  leaning  that  way,  seeing  this,  broke  out, 
"If  your  new  scheme  is  opposed  to  revivals  and  the 
saving  of  souls,  I  will  have  nothing  more  to  do  with 
it."  This  was  a  quietus,  and  the  mistaken  brother  said 
no  more  about  his  favorite  hobby,  for  he  soon  found 
the  society  generally  agreed  with  the  good  sister. 


366  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

The  usual  routine  of  duties,  meetings,  etc.,  went  on 
with  good  success  throughout  the  year.  Just  before 
Conference  we  held  a  camp-meeting  in  Ellsworth  of  the 
higher  order.  No  rowdies  disturbed  us,  and  the  relig- 
ious exercises  were  of  a  highly  devotional  character.  A 
large  number  of  respectable  outsiders  attended  with 
their  converted  friends,  for  a  little  pleasant  pastime, 
and  a  social  interview  with  friends  and  acquaint- 
ances. Times  had  greatly  changed  in  a  few  years.  So 
many  of  the  higher  classes  of  society  had  become 
Methodists,  that  their  unconverted  friends,  if  they  for- 
merly felt  a  spirit  of  opposition,  were  now  disarmed; 
and  out  of  respect  to  friends,  if  from  no  higher  motives, 
behaved  respectfully  at  our  meetings,  and  rather  sided 
with  us. 

Among  the  outsiders  were  five  professed  infidels. 
As  "  birds  of  a  feather  flock  together,"  so  with  them. 
They  watched  the  motion  of  things.  They  saw  some 
of  their  friends  converted,  and  heard  them  tell  of 
their  happiness  from  the  change  that  had  occurred,  the 
evidence  of  which  was  so  clear  and  strong,  even  aside 
of  their  own  word  for  it,  that  they  could  not  question 
it.  They  also  saw  and  heard  the  professions  of  happi- 
ness from  their  friends  who  had  been  some  time  pro- 
fessors of  the  religion  we  preached,  and  in  whom  they 
had  confidence  at  home  or  abroad. 

On  Saturday  evening,  while  a  powerful  and  good 
work  was  in  progress,  they,  as  usual,  were  sitting 
together  trying  to  philosophize  upon  this  change  in 
man's  moral  nature,  which  was  so  frequently  occurring 
before  their  eyes,  and  which  they  could  no  more  deny 
than  they  could  deny  their  senses,  but  they  could  come 
to  no  satisfactory  conclusion.  One  of  them  was  an 
eminent  physician  of  my  own  name,  though  not  near 
enough  related  to  claim  any  kinship;  he  knew  of  no 
law  of  our  physical  nature  upon  which  to  account  for  it. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  367 

This  left  it  on  supernatural  grounds,  and  no  other;  but 
this  they  had  so  long  indulged  in  reasoning  against,  that 
they  were  unwilling  to  yield  the  point  without  some 
reasons  more  potent  in  their  view  than  those  they  had 
been  in  the  habit  of  hearing.  What  should  they  do? 
Facts,  which  are  "stubborn  things,"  were  against  them. 
Their  former  reasonings  could  not  solve  the  mystery. 
If  it  was  natural,  they  knew  of  no  law  by  which  to  ex- 
plain it,  and  if  it  was  really  supernatural,  they  were 
in  a  dangerous  error. 

In  this  extremity  one  of  them  said,  "Those  people 
are  evidently  happier  than  we  are,  and  enjoy  them- 
selves better  than  we  do.  If  it  is  delusion,  as  we  have 
supposed,  yet  they  have  decidedly  the  advantage  of  us, 
for  they  are  happier  than  we  are.  If  they  are  right, 
we  are  wrong,  and  the  sooner  we  know  it  the  better; 
and  I  propose  to  submit  to  the  preachers  some  points 
that  stand  in  our  way,  with  a  request  that  one  of  their 
ablest  men  preach  on  them." 

To   this  they   all   agreed.     After  consultation,  they 
drew  up  the  following  five  points : 

1.  The  divinity  of  Christ. 

2.  The  immortality  of  the  soul. 

3.  The  resurrection  of  the  dead. 

4.  Faith  without  reason  for  it. 

5.  The  real  nature  of  the  Christian  religion. 
They   placed   this   paper   in    the   hands  of  a   local 

preacher,  who  handed  it  to  me  in  the  tent,  with  their 
request. 

I  inquired  who  they  were ;  but  he  was  desired  not 
to  give  their  names  then,  though  he  might  do  so 
afterward. 

"Are  they  respectable  persons,  and  really  seeking 
light,  or  are  they  captious  rowdies  who  wish  to  show 
their  smartness,  by  what  they  think  will  puzzle  us?" 

"They  are  of  the  most  respectable  families  in  the 


368  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

country,  and  some  of  them  are  connected  with  families 
of  our  Church.  They  seem  to  be  badly  staggered  by 
what  they  have  seen  and  heard  on  the  ground,  but 
their  old  views  and  reasonings  on  these  points  stand  in 
their  way,  and  if  they  can  be  so  explained  as  to  satisfy 
them,  they  will  probably  embrace  religion  and  be 
saved." 

Upon  this  report  of  the  case,  I  concluded  that  they 
ought  to  be  gratified,  and  directed  that  they  be  so 
informed  ;  that  a  sermon  upon  these  points  would  be 
preached  the  next  day,  Sunday,  at  some  hour  to  be  fixed 
upon,  and  that  they  should  be  informed. 

As  brother  Eddy  was  the  presiding  elder,  I  sub- 
mitted the  matter  to  him  to  preach  it;  but  he  utterly 
refused,  saying,  "If  they  hear  not  Moses  and  the 
prophets,  neither  would  they  believe  though  one  rose 
from  the  dead." 

"  But  I  understand  that  these  are  respectable  men, 
are  half  convinced  noAV,  and  if  we  can  remove  the 
difficulties  that  are  in  their  wTay,  we  may  save  them." 

"Well,  if  you  have  a  mind  to  do  so,  you  can,  but  I 
won't."  This,  perhaps,  w7as  for  the  best;  for  though 
brother  Eddy  was  an  able  preacher,  he  had  no  taste  or 
tact  for  such  controversy.  His  forte  was  in  explaining 
and  enforcing  the  precepts  of  the  Gospel  and  advocat- 
ing experimental  religion. 

As  the  meeting  was  on  my  own  charge,  I  felt  some 
delicacy  in  preaching  the  discourse  myself,  when  there 
were  several  distinguished  visiting  brethren  present. 
I  requested  several  to  do  it,  but  all  declined.  Brother 
John  Luccock  was  then  rather  young,  but  his  contro- 
versial abilities  were  somewhat  developed;  but  ho 
declined.  He  was  to  preach  at  three  o'clock  and  I  at 
night;  but  as  three  o'clock  was  deemed  the  most  suit- 
able hour,  he  said  he  would  exchange  hours  with  me. 
So  I  was  compelled   to   do   this   preaching  myself.     I 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  369 

must  confess  that  I  felt  nothing  loth,  for  I  had  no  mis- 
givings as  to  the  result. 

At  the  close  of  the  morning  service  it  was  announced, 
and  all  were  invited  to  be  present  who  had  any  doubts 
on  these  subjects.  This  probably  detained  hundreds 
who  usually  Jeave  the  ground  at  or  before  the  hour  of 
three  o'clock,  P.  M.  There  was  no  sensible  diminution 
of  the  congregation  from  that  of  the  morning  service. 
Brother  Eddy  having  no  taste  for  such  controversy 
took  his  Bible  and  went  to  the  woods  to  read  and  pray, 
and  did  not  hear  the  discourse. 

At  the  hour  all  the  other  preachers  were  on  the 
stand  or  about  it.  Just  back  of  the  congregation  sat, 
on  a  seat  by  themselves,  four  gentlemanly-looking 
young  men — the  fifth,  the  physician,  had  been  called 
away  to  set  a  broken  arm  for  a  passenger  in  a  Sunday - 
going  stage,  which  had  upset.  I  took  them  to  be  the 
inquirers,  and  pitched  my  voice  just  loud  enough-  for 
them  to  hear  distinctly.  I  afterward  learned  that  there 
were  some  dozen  or  twenty  of  similar  skeptical  views 
on  the  ground,  who  remained  to  hear  the  discourse.  I 
found,  too,  that  our  most  intelligent  members  felt  a  deep 
interest  in  the  subject,  in  hopes  of  being  furnished  with 
arguments  and  illustrations  with  which  to  meet  such, 
when  they  should  happen  to  be  pitted  with  them  in 
argument,  or  when  they  might  be  under  temptation  on 
these  points. 

It  took  me  about  three  hours.  The  audience  kept 
their  seats,  with  eyes  and  ears  fixed  on  me,  as  if  spell- 
bound, and  some  of  them  said  afterward  they  wondered 
how  the  sun  settled  down  so  fast  in  the  west,  not  being 
aware  of  the  flight  of  time.  I  watched  m}r  four  friends, 
who  hardly  moved  a  muscle  or  a  limb,  but  looked  as  if 
they  felt  that  a  critical  moment  was  upon  them,  for  life  or 
death.  Some  of  the  women  said  afterward  that  the  sun 
went  down  uncommonly  fast;  they  saw  that  it  was  time 


370  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

for  the  tea-kettle  to  be  over  the  fire,  but  could  not  leave 
to  attend  to  it;  but  some  sent  their  children  who  were 
not  so  much  interested,  to  do  this  work. 

After  the  preaching  at  night  one  of  these  gentlemen 
came  into  the  preachers'  tent  to  see  me.  Like  Nicode- 
mus  he  chose  the  night  to  make  his  inquiries.  He  said 
he  was  one  of  the  company  who  sent  in  the  request, 
was  well  pleased  with  the  discourse,  but  wished  to  ask 
a  few  questions  on  points  not  fully  cleared  up  to  his 
satisfaction.  If  they  were  cleared  up  he  should  be 
perfectly  satisfied. 

I  told  him  to  proceed  with  his  questions,  and  he  did 
so;  and  I  answered  to  his  entire  satisfaction.  He  said, 
also,  that  the  others  were  as  well  satisfied  as  he  was. 
The  result  was,  the  four  were  soon  after  converted  to 
God.  I  found  afterward  that  this  discourse  was  of  great 
use  to  our  membership,  especially  those  who  had  skep- 
tical friends,  or  had  been  tempted  to  infidelity. 

I  treated  the  inquirers  with  due  respect  and  courtesy. 
I  admitted  their  honesty  of  intention,  but  lamented 
their  errors.  I  used  no  offensive  language,  nor  oppro- 
brious epithets,  nor  called  them  or  their  class  by  any 
hard  names.  I  had  learned  long  before  that  "  soft  words 
go  far,"  and  never  resort  to  harsh  terms,  except  on 
those  on  whom  no  other  will  be  appreciated.  I  use 
hard  arguments,  but  not  hard  words. 

One  of  these  inquirers  lived  on  Cleveland  circuit, 
and  had  come  about  sixty  miles  to  see  his  friends  and 
attend  the  meeting,  and  the  next  year,  when  on  that 
circuit,  I  found  his  house  was  one  of  our  lodging-places. 
At  a  quarterly-meeting  in  that  place  we,  the  preachers, 
lodged  with  him.  As  brother  Eddy,  the  presiding  elder, 
seemed  to  be  much  pleased  with  this  new  preachers' 
home,  I  reminded  him  that  our  host  was  one  of  the 
men  who  sent  in  that  request  at  the  Ellsworth  camp- 
meeting. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  371 

"O,  well,"  said  he,  "I  will  never  say  another  word 
against  preaching  controversial  sermons.  If  this  is  the 
fruit  of  it,  in  God's  name  go  on,  and  preach  such  as  much 
as  }'Ou  please."  In  truth  he  should  not  have  objected 
at  all,  to  be  consistent;  for  before  the  year  was  out,  he 
intimated  that  he  should  have  me  sent  to  Cleveland  pur- 
posely to  preach  against  infidelity  and  Campbellism. 

In  the  course  of  this  year,  by  direction  of  my  pre- 
siding elder,  I  held  a  four-dajV  meeting  in  Rootstown, 
in  a  barn,  three  miles  from  Ravenna.  The  object  was, 
if  possible,  to  make  an  impression  on  Ravenna.  We  had 
no  suitable  house  in  that  village;  the  court-house  was 
shut  against  all  such  holy  purposes;  the  school-house 
was  not  large  enough,  and  the  next  best  thing  we  could 
do  was  to  occupy  an  empty  barn.  The  two  preachers 
on  the  circuit,  with  some  others,  were  assigned  to  help 
me.  The  roads  were  good,  and  the  people  for  six  or 
eight  miles  around  came  in  their  wagons,  ten  or  a  dozen 
at  a  load.  They  came  after  breakfast,  bringing  their 
dinners;  went  home  to  tea  and  back  for  night-meeting, 
and  home  after  it. 

I  preached  in  Eavenna  on  Thursday  night.  On  Fri- 
day at  ten,  two,  and  night,  there  was  preaching  in  the 
barn,  and  so  on  Saturday  and  Sunday,  the  other 
brethren  taking  their  turns.  On  Monday  morning  we 
had  a  love-feast,  at  two  the  Lord's-Supper,  and  at  night 
the  closing  sermon.  Between  each  morning  and  after- 
noon service  we  had  prayer-meetings  for  penitents,  and 
also  after  the  night  preaching,  till  ten  o'clock,  except 
Monday  night,  when  it  continued  till  two  o'clock  next 
morning.  At  the  noon  lunch  a  part  of  the  people  ate 
while  others  prayed,  and  then  those  that  had  eaten 
took  their  places  at  the  mourners'  bench,  and  let  the 
others  eat.  Between  the  afternoon  service  and  night, 
all  went  to  tea  and  returned.  Thus  from  ten,  A.  M., 
till  four  or  five,  P.  M.,  the  barn  was  kept  vocal  with 


372  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

preaching,  praying,  or  singing;  and  the  same  from 
seven  to  ten,  P.  M.  The  bay,  the  floor,  the  stable,  and 
loft  over  the  stable,  all  being  well  cleaned  out  and 
strewed  with  straw,  were  well  seated,  and  well  filled, 
and  then  hundreds  occupied  seats  on  the  green  sward 
in  front,  the  large  doors  being  swung  open. 

The  numerous  wagon  loads  going  to  and  from  the 
meetings  made  the  air  melodious  with  the  songs  of 
Zion.  Not  the  least  interruption  occurred.  If  any 
came  with  such  intent,  they  were  awed  into  rever- 
ence by  the  holiness  of  the  place,  and  its  surrounding 
influences. 

About  midnight,  Monday,  I  retired  to  the  house  and 
sought  rest;  but  about  two,  A.  M.,  the  brethren  from  the 
barn  came  in,  shouting  and  praising  God,  and  one  said, 
"We  have  worked  up  all  the  timber;  the  last  penitent 
was  converted."  After  the  last  one  at  the  bench  had 
found  peace,  they  searched  the  barn,  and  found  one 
who  was  hid  in  the  manger.  Him  they  lifted  on  to  the 
barn  floor,  and  prayed  with  and  for  him  till  he  also 
found  peace. 

The  result  of  this  meeting  was  glorious.  Fully  one 
hundred  were  converted  in  the  barn,  among  whom  was 
Cyrus  Prentice,  of  Ravenna,  who  honored  God,  the 
Church,  and  the  world,  for  many  years,  and  died  in 
triumph.  The  revival  influence  that  spread  from  the 
meeting,  I  was  told,  brought  in  at  least  one  hundred 
more ;  making,  in  all,  about  two  hundred  converted,  as 
the  fruit  of  this  meeting. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  373 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

OUE  Conference  for  1831  met  in  Pittsburg.  The 
Kadieals  had  now  got  fairly  under  way,  and  called 
themselves  "Protestant  Methodists."  They  went  out 
from  us  with  a  declaration  of  independence,  imitating 
the  Revolution  of  these  United  States.  This  was  under- 
stood to  be  for  effect.  In  their  appeals  to  the  Church 
and  the  world,  in  favor  of  what  they  called  "reform," 
their  "harp  of  a  thousand  strings"  was  borrowed  from 
the  political  arena.  They  sought  favor  by  working 
upon  the  political  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  people; 
and  to  carry  out  the  farce,  they  must  have  a  declara- 
tion of  rights,  grievances,  and  (false)  charges  against 
the  Church  to  which  they  OAved  all  the  prominence  they 
had  in  the  world,  and  the  Church,  which,  under  God, 
had  taken  them  from  sin,  ignorance,  and  folly,  and  had 
raised  them  to  some  degree  of  prominence,  in  which 
their  heads  became  dizzy,  and  the  result  was,  their 
secession. 

It  was  reported  by  the  Radicals  that  their  famous, 
or  f/ifamous  (as  the  reader  may  choose  to  have  it) 
declaration  was  from  the  pen  of  Henry  B.  Bascom, 
then  a  member  of  the  Pittsburg  Conference,  who, 
though  after  favoring  them  and  giving  them  aid  and 
comfort,  did  not  think  best  to  go  with  them. 

The  lines  being  now  fairly  drawn,  it  seemed  but 
right  to  know  who  was  for  us  and  who  against  us. 
While  they  remained  with  us,  there  was  some  hope 
that  they  might  see  their  error  and  remain,  if  borne 
with  awhile.  And  there  was  some  fear  that  if  the  mal- 
contents should  be  excluded,  it  might  disturb  some 
wheat,  that  might,  by  forbearance,  be  saved.     But  now 


374  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

we  were  in  different  circumstances,  which  required  a 
different  course  of  treatment. 

I  therefore  took  Bascom  to  one  side  and  told  him 
the  report,  and  whence  it  came,  and  that  when  his 
name  was  called,  in  the  examination  of  character,  he 
would  be  required  to  avow  or  disavow  the  authorship 
of  that  document. 

This  threw  him  into  a  great  nervous  excitement. 
His  fingers  and  his  snuff-box  came  into  frequent  con- 
tact. He  admitted  the  fact,  but  desired  an  interview 
with  several  of  the  leading  members  of  Conference,  to 
whom  he  would  explain  the  circumstances,  before  the 
matter  came  before  the  Conference. 

This  interview  was  had,  and  the  explanation  was 
this:  At  the  time  the  Eadical  leaders  were  preparing 
their  declaration,  he  happened  to  be  present,  and  when 
they  read  what  was  written,  he  laughed  at  the  com- 
position, and  said,  jocosely,  that  he  could  write  a  better 
one  himself.  They  then  desired  him  to  do  so.  But  he 
declined,  because  he  should  not  go  with  them,  and 
would  not  burn  his  fingers  with  it.  They  then  ban- 
tered him;  and  finally  threw  out  innuendoes,  or  intima- 
tions, that  he  couldn't  write  a  better  one.  This  he  said 
he  was  foolish  enough  to  let  excite  him;  he  felt  his 
pride  sprung  a  little,  and  took  up  the  pen  and  embod- 
ied the  sentiments  of  their  document,  merely  to  show 
them  that  in  point  of  composition  he  could  write  a  bet- 
ter declaration  than  they  had  done. 

They  admitted  that  he  had  beaten  them  in  the  com- 
position, and  desired  it  for  adoption.  This  he  said  he 
peremptorily  refused,  and  reached  his  hand  to  take  and 
destroy  it,  but  one  caught  it  away,  and  prevented  his 
doing  so,  but  they  promised  not  to  publish  it,  if  he 
would  leave  it  with  them  merely  to  refer  to.  Under 
this  solemn  promise  not  to  give  it  publicity,  he  left  it 
with  them. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  375 

As  they  had  violated  their  pledge  and  deceived  him, 
he  regretted  that  he  had  left  it  with  them,  and  averred 
solemnly  that  he  was  done  with  them,  and  would  have 
no  more  intercourse  with  them.  From  the  earnestness 
of  his  manner,  and  apparent  sincerity,  we  thought  he 
must  be  pretty  well  cured  of  the  ism,  and  agreed  to  let 
him  pass.  So  wiien  his  name  was  called,  he  rose  and 
alluded  to  the  matter,  and  referred  to  me,  and  others, 
to  explain  to  the  Conference  how  he  became  involved 
in  the  affair.  This  was  done,  and  his  character  was 
allowed  to  pass.  But  we  had  to  regret  the  frailty  of 
poor  human  nature  in  him;  for  his  subsequent  acts 
give  ground  to  suspect  that  all  his  explanation  and 
professions  of  loyalty  were  a  ruse  to  get  through  at 
that  time.  He  took  a  transfer  from  us  to  Kentucky 
Conference,  where  he  remained  till  he  went  off  with  a 
greater  secession,  and  from  worse  motives,  to  favor 
slavery. 

At  this  Conference,  delegates  were  elected  to  the 
General  Conference,  to  meet  in  Philadelphia  in  May, 
1832,  of  whom  I  was  one.  I  was  appointed  to  Cleve- 
land circuit,  with  Dennis  Goddard  and  John  J.  Stedman. 
This  was  Stedman's  first  year.  The  circuit  was  large, 
and  required  six  weeks  to  go  round.  It  extended  to 
Euclid,  on  Lake  Erie,  on  the  east,  and  to  Hudson, 
Stowe,  and  Franklin  on  the  south. 

It" will  be  noticed  that  I  had  not,  up  to  this  time, 
been  appointed  to  any  charge  for  two  years  in  succes- 
sion ;  though  I  had  been  on  the  same  charges  the 
second  and  third  time,  with  one,  two,  or  three  years 
intervening.  I  was  not  aware  that  a  re-appointment 
wrould  not  have  been  acceptable  to  the  people;  for 
when  I  went  back  to  any  circuit  that  I  had  traveled 
before,  I  always  met  with  a  cordial  reception,  and 
never  had  to  meet  the  "iron-rod"  stories  a  second 
time. 


376  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

But  the  reason  given  for  my  annual  changes  was, 
that  the  appointing  power  always  had  some  special  job 
or  difficult  task  for  me  to  attend  to,  when  "old  iron- 
sides," as  the  preachers  called  me,  must  do  it. 

In  those  days,  a  re-appointment,  or  to  be  returned 
to  a  charge  for  a  second  year  in  succession,  was  not 
favorably  received.  It  was  said  of  such  that  they  had 
but  half  done  their  work  the  first  year,  and  were  re- 
turned to  finish  it.  There  being  but  few  parsonages, 
and  not  as  much  moving  of  families  as  there  is  now, 
most  of  the  preachers  preferred  an  annual  change,  and 
so  did  the  people,  for  the  sake  of  variety. 

For  the  three  preceding  years,  my  appointments 
were  made  with  special  reference  to  Eadicalism ;  this 
year  it  was  made  with  special  reference  to  infidelity, 
though  Campbellism  was  to  be  attended  to.  Infidelity 
had  reigned  rampant  in  Cleveland  for  a  long  time. 
They  boasted  that  they  had  no  church  in  the  place. 
But  about  the  year  1830,  when  the  tide  of  immigration 
was  rolling  up  the  lake  by  both  land  and  water,  the 
immigrants  frequently  stopped  and  looked  at  the  place, 
with  a  view  to  settlement  if  all  things  suited.  Of 
course,  religious  and  moral  people  had  some  respect  to 
the  society  of  a  place;  and  of  this  they  judged  from 
the  schools  and  churches,  and  seeing  no  churches  here, 
they  inquired  for  them. 

"  O,  we  have  no  churches ;  we  do  n't  want  them ;  we 
are  not  priest-ridden,  and  do  n't  mean  to  be." 

"Well,  have  you  no  Sabbaths  here?" 

"No;  we  care  no  more  about  Sunday  than  any 
other  day." 

"Then  we  will  not  stop  here.  We  won't  raise  a 
family  where  there  are  no  Sabbaths  nor  churches.  We 
will  go  further  up  the  lake.  We  shall  find  them  some- 
where." 

This  opened  the  eyes  of  the  infidels.     They  saw  that 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  377 

they  were  losing  the  best  class  of  immigrants  on  account 
of  their  infidelity,  and  said  among  themselves,  "We 
must  have  a  church."  A  subscription  of  some  two  thou- 
sand dollars  was  raised,  and  offered  to  the  first  denom- 
ination that  would  build  a  church.  It  so  happened  that 
a  Churchman  was  the  first  who  came  along,  and  he  ac- 
cepted the  offer,  and  it  was  said,  returned  to  New  York 
and  raised  two  thousand  dollars  more,  and  a  church 
was  built.  As  the  ministers  of  that  Church  were  not 
revivalists,  of  course  they  never  disturbed  the  con- 
sciences of  men  of  the  world.  The  latter  were  suited, 
and  a  few  of  them  attended  the  services. 

This,  when  I  went  there,  was  the  only  church  edi- 
fice in  the  place.  It  was  small,  but  built  with  some 
taste,  and  in  that  respect  suited  the  eye  of  those  who 
knew  or  cared  little  about  spiritual  things.  The  Pres- 
byterians occupied  a  chamber  over  a  store  or  ware- 
house of  some  kind.  There  might  have  been  a  few 
Baptists  in  the  town,  but  if  so,  they  occupied  a  private 
dwelling  as  a  place  of  worship.  We  met  in  a  private 
house  through  the  Fall  and  Winter,  but  in  the  Spring 
were  obliged  to  give  up  this,  and  go  to  the  woods  bor- 
dering upon  the  town.  If  the  weather  was  fair  we  had 
a  small  congregation,  but  if  it  rained  we  had  none. 
The  society  was  smal^  and  poor,  and  could  not  build. 
I  secured  a  donation  of  a  lot  in  an  eligible  situation, 
but  had  to  leave  it  unoccupied,  though  I  was  informed 
that  the  first  Methodist  church  in  the  place  was  built 
upon  it. 

There  was  a  splendidly  finished  court-house  in  the 
town,  but  the  reigning  infidelity  excluded  all  kinds  of 
religious  worship  from  it,  and  so,  too,  from  the  school- 
rooms— as  if  courts  of  justice  and  school-rooms  had  no 
connection  nor  harmony  with  the  enlightening  Gospel 
of  Christ ! 

At  one  time,  within  this  year,  a  report  was  circulated 
32 


378  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

in  town,  that  the  celebrated  Mr.  Finney,  the  Presbyte- 
rian revivalist,  was  about  to  visit  the  place.  At  this 
the  infidels  took  alarm,  and  held  a  public  meeting, 
and  passed  resolutions  deprecating  such  a  visit,  and  re- 
questing that  neither  he  nor  any  other  revivalist  should 
visit  the  town.  Whether  Mr.  Finney  heard  of  the  re- 
quest or  not,  I  do  not  know,  but  he  did  not  come. 

At  my  next  appointment  in  the  place,  alter  the 
dreadful  (!)  resolutions  were  passed,  I  published  myself 
as  a  revivalist,  in  hopes  that  they  would  take  notice 
enough  of  it  to  get  up  some  excitement,  which  I  knew 
would  draw  out  hearers,  in  which  case  some  sinners 
might  be  awakened  and  converted.  Whether  they 
deemed  me  to  be  too  "small  potatoes"  for  them  to 
notice,  or  whether  they  feared  the  consequences,  I 
know  not;  but  I  was  passed  by  in  silence,  and  the 
obdurate  hardness  of  the  people  continued  undis- 
turbed. 

In  Euclid,  on  this  circuit,  I  found  my  old  friends, 
Wakeman  and  Deborah  Penfield,  whom  I  had  not  seen 
since  I  left  Bridgeport,  Connecticut.  He  was  now  a  re- 
spectable local  preacher.  My  visits  and  our  reminiscen- 
ces of  olden  times  were  pleasant  and  interesting.  The 
scenes  of  our  youthful  days  were  rehearsed,  and  almost 
re-acted  over,  like  old  soldiers  do  their  battles. 

On  my  first  round  on  the  circuit,  while  at  Hudson, 
and  my  appointment  out  for  preaching,  brother  Sted- 
man,  one  of  my  colleagues,  came  to  me  and  said  that  I 
must  go  and  fill  his  appointment,  three  miles  distant, 
and  he  would  fill  mine.  He  said  that  on  reaching  the 
place  where  his  appointment  had  been  previously  made, 
he  found  the  Campbellites  in  full  blast  of  a'protracted 
meeting.  They  agreed  that  he  might  preach,  but  in- 
tended to  use  him  up  afterward,  and  he  would  rather 
preach  to  a  disappointed  congregation  than  to  his  own, 
under  such  circumstances. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  379 

On  reaching  the  place  about  dark,  I  found  that 
brother  Goddard,  my  other  colleague,  had  heard  of  the 
intended  attack  on  our  boy,  and  had  come  to  the  rescue, 
having  traveled  several  miles.  The  house  was  crowded. 
"When  we  walked  into  the  stand,  their  preachers  having 
seen  and  heard  me  before,  saw  that  they  had  lost  their 
game,  and  soon  passed  the  nod,  wink,  and  whisper  of 
alarm  round  among  their  own  class. 

I  preached  my  old  anti-Campbellite  sermon.  It 
took  me  nearly  three  hours.  I  had  the  best  of  atten- 
tion and  many  favorable  responses,  while  the  Camp- 
bellites  hung  their  heads  in  gloom  and  despair.  Brother 
Goddard  closed  the  meeting,  when  one  of  their  preach- 
ers rose  and  desired  to  speak.  I  told  him  that  they 
had  been  there  several  days  preaching  their  views 
upon  the  subject,  and  would  have  some  days  yet  to 
come  if  they  chose;  that  I  had  not  heard  them  while 
they  had  heard  me,  which  gave  them  an  advantage 
over  me,  and  as  this  was  my  meeting,  I  should  not  con- 
sent fur  him  to  keep  the  people  there  any  longer  that 
night,  but  should  dismiss  them.  If  after  that  any  chose 
to  hear  him  they  were  at  liberty  to  do  so.  Pronounc- 
ing the  apostolic  benediction,  we  started  for  the  door, 
and  all  the  congregation  with  us,  except,  perhaps,  a 
dozen  of  the  Campbellites.  They  announced  that  they 
would  reply  to  me  the  next  night,  but  I  was  told  that 
their  audience  was  so  small  that  they  closed  up  at 
once,  instead  of  holding  on  for  several  days,  as  they 
had  intended. 

I  found  several  other  places  on  the  circuit  where 
these  deluded  people  were  trying  to  prevent  others 
from  the  truth,  and  persuade  them  to  go,  or  rather  at- 
tempt to  go,  to  heaven  by  water,  instead  of  depending 
entirely  upon  the  grace  of  God.  But  the  light  of  truth 
which  I  was  enabled  to  present  to  the  people  caused 
this  ism  to  wither  away,  and  it  was  some  years  before 


380  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

they  made  any  progress  toward  creeks,  rivers,  and  mill- 
ponds  again. 

In  December  I  had  the  misfortune,  while  facing  a 
cold  north-wester,  to  have  both  ears  and  both  thighs 
frozen  while  on  horseback.  The  next  morning  after 
freezing  my  thighs  I  found  myself  scarcely  able  to 
walk.  I  was  many  miles  from  a  physician,  and  no 
one  knew  any  remed}"  where  I  was.  I  knew  that 
Young  Hyson  tea.  just  softened  by  hot  water  so  as  to 
open  the  leaves,  but  not  extract  the  strength,  placed 
upon  a  corn-meal  poultice,  was  an  infallible  remedy  for 
a  burn.  On  reasoning  upon  the  subject,  I  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  a  freeze  and  a  burn  were  alike,  in  that 
they  obstructed  the  circulation  of  the  fluids  in  the  mus- 
cle, which  produced  inflammation,  and  as  tea  was  a 
stimulant  that  would  promote  this  circulation,  in  case 
of  a  burn,  I  concluded  it  would  do  so  in  case  of  a  freeze, 
and  resolved  to  try  it. 

But  I  could  not  use  a  poultice  and  ride  to  my  next 
appointment.  I  therefore  took  a  tea-spoonful  of  tea, 
put  it  into  a  tea-cup  with  water,  and  then  on  the  fire, 
and  made  a  very  strong  decoction  of  it,  and  with  this 
bathed  both  ears  and  thighs  three  times  before  leaving 
for  the  saddle.  The  result  was  that  the  soreness  left 
my  thighs,  and  my  ears  which  had  become  running 
sores,  were  soon  healed  up  and  became  sound. 

In  February,  1832,  we  had  one  of  the  mammoth 
floods  of  the  country.  A  large  body  of  snow  was  car- 
ried off  by  a  protracted  and  heavy  rain,  and  every 
river  in  the  country  was  swollen  to  a  degree  not 
known  for  many  years,  if  ever  before.  I  visited  my 
family  once  in  three  weeks,  but  if  by  any  means  I 
missed  one  visit,  it  run  to  six  weeks. 

The  Cuj'ahoga  River  lay  between  me  and  my  home, 
the  bridges  over  which,  for  forty  miles,  were  said  to  be 
gone,  except  in  one  place.     At  that  place  the  water  was 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  381 

over  the  embankments  at  each  end  of  it,  as  high  as  my 
saddle-skirts.  I  made  my  way  to  the  bridge,  the  water 
being  up  to  the  stringers  of  it,  and  crossed  to  the  east 
end  of  it,  where  I  found  the  puncheons,  which  formed 
the  floor  of  it,  were  all  afloat.  I  dared  not  ride  on  to 
them,  lest  my  horse  should  get  his  legs  between  them, 
and  both  of  us  get  thrown  off  into  the  river,  where  it 
was  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  deep.  Some  men,  standing  on 
the  outer  bank,  beyond  the  overflowed  bottom  land,  said 
that  I  could  not  cross,  and  there  was  no  use  in  trying. 
I  then  returned  to  the  shore  from  whence  I  had  come, 
and  hired  twTo  men  to  take  a  wide  board,  in  a  canoe,  to 
the  bridge,  and  lay  it  across  the  floating  puncheons ;  and 
the  weight  of  my  horse  on  the  board  pressed  them  down 
to  their  place,  and  riding  him  on  the  board,  I  reached 
the  embankment,  which  was  covered  with  water;  by 
following  that  I  reached  the  dry  ground  where  the  men 
stood  who  said  that  I  could  not  cross  at  all.  They 
looked  astonished.  I  said  to  them,  "  Gentlemen,  you 
should  never  say  to  a  Methodist  preacher  that  he  can  't 
do  a  thing  till  you  see  him  try  and  fail." 

One  of  my  appointments  on  this  circuit  was  at  Frank- 
lin, at  the  head  of  the  Great  Fall  of  the  Cuyahoga 
River.  For  several  miles  above  the  river  was  nearly 
on  a  level,  and  w7ended  its  way  slowiy  through  marshes 
and  swamps,  spreading  out  to  great  width.  Here,  above 
the  falls,  it  was  probably  three  hundred  feet  wide,  but 
was  suddenly  compressed  into  a  gorge  in  the  rocks,  and 
went  pitching  and  tumbling  down  over  broken  rocks 
for  a  mile  or  two,  in  which  the  water  was  said  to  fall 
two  hundred  and  fifty  feet.  At  the  head  of  this  gorge 
the  rocks  hung  over  from  each  shore  to  within  twenty- 
four  feet  of  each  other,  the  west  side  being  a  few  feet 
lower  than  the  other.  The  width  of  the  channel  under 
the  overhanging  rocks  was  not  known,  but  presumed 
to   be  from   fifty  to   seventy  feet.     This   narrow  spot 


382  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

became  famous  in  the  Indian  wars  in  this  country  by 
an  Indian  jumping  it,  to  escape  from  the  celebrated 
Bradys,  of  Beaver,  Penn. 

The  tradition  of  the  Bradys  was  this:  They  were 
famous  Indian  hunters,  about  the  time  of  Wayne's 
campaign  among  them.  Their  camp  for  trapping,  fish- 
ing, and  hunting  was  on  a  branch  of  Beaver  Eiver, 
called  "Brady's  Bun,"  in  the  village  of  Sharon,  from 
which  they  made  excursions  out  toward  Lake  Erie,  in 
quest  of  Indians.  Finding  a  camp  of  five  between  two 
little  lakes  or  ponds,  a  few  miles  east  of  this  fall,  they 
attacked  them,  and  killed  three,  the  other  two  running 
for  this  almost  natural  bridge,  as  their  only  means  of 
escape  from  what  they  thought  to  be  human  devils. 

The  Indians,  having  dropped  their  guns,  blankets, 
and  tomahawks,  sped  their  way  with  great  speed,  but 
the  Bradys  were  close  at  their  heels.  On  reaching  the 
chasm  one  made  the  fearful  leap  of  twenty-four  feet, 
and  reached  the  opposite  rock  in  safety;  but  the  other 
just  touched  the  rock  with  his  toes,  and  fell  into  the 
foaming  waters  below,  and,  of  course,  went  down  over 
the  falls,  and  was  never  heard  of  more.  The  Bradys 
were  near  enough  to  see  the  result. 

Of  these  Bradys  the  most  wonderful  tales  were  told 
of  their  skill  in  hunting  Indians,  of  their  courage,  des- 
peration, and  dare-devil  bravery.  They  professed  to  be 
able  to  scent  the  track  of  an  Indian.  They  knew  all 
the  signs  by  which  to  trace  them,  which  they  alwa}'S 
did,  unless  the  signs  indicated  too  large  a  number  for 
them  to  attack.  They  killed  so  many  that  the  Indians 
called  them  devils,  and  feared  them  more  than  they  did 
the  evil  one  himself.  But  the  Indians  succeeded,  finally, 
in  capturing,  first  one  and  then  the  other,  of  these  dar- 
ing, and,  to  them,  dangerous  enemies;  but  to  their  own 
sorrow  in  both  cases. 

The  first  one,  when  captured   and   in  their  power. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  383 

assumed  the  bravado,  and,  imitating  the  Indians  in  it, 
said  to  them,  "I  have  killed  enough  of  your  people,  and 
am  willing  to  die;  just  kill  me  at  once !"  But  this  did 
not  suit  their  ideas  of  revenge;  they  must  burn  him  by 
inches,  and  kindled  a  fire  to  do  it.  He  saw  their  "de- 
sign, and  knew  the  result,  unless  he  could  escape  by 
some  stratagem.  He  could  talk  in  their  own  language, 
and  laughed  at  them  as  a  set  of  old  women,  to  burn  a 
man  whom  they  dared  not  kill  at  once. 

At  length  he  told  them  that  he  saw  he  must  die, 
and  the  secret  of  his  success  in  killing  so  many  of  them 
would  be  of  no  more  use  to  him,  and  if  they  would  take 
a  rifle-barrel  out  of  the  stock,  and  heat  it  red-hot,  he 
would  eat  it,  and  show  them  the  secret. 

This  took  their  curiosity,  and  the  rifle-barrel  was 
soon  in  the  fire.  They  had  stacked  their  loaded  rifles 
against  a  tree,  and  formed  a  ring  around  him,  having 
first  divested  him  of  all  his  clothing,  intending  to  crowd 
him,  by  inches,  into  the  fire,  till  he  became  so  roasted 
as  to  be  unable  to  stand,  and  then  throw  him  bodily 
into  the  fire,  where  he  would  be  consumed. 

As  soon  as  the  rifle-barrel  began  to  be  red-hot  at  one 
end  he  caught  hold  of  the  other,  and  commenced  club- 
bing them  over  the  head.  If  they  caught  hold  of  the 
heated  end  it  burnt  their  hands  to  a  crisp.  He  thus 
fought  his  way  to  the  loaded  rifles,  when  he  seized 
them,  one  after  another,  and  at  every  shot  a  panic- 
stricken  Indian  fell,  till  they  recovered  from  the  shock 
enough  to  run  from  him;  he  then  took  the  best  one, 
with  some  ammunition,  and  started  for  home.  They 
were  so  sure  now  that  he  was  a  devil,  and  not  to  be 
killed,  that  they  dared  not  follow  him. 

The  other  brother  being  taken,  they  thought  they 
would  try  him  and  burn  him  in  the  way  they  intended 
to  do  the  first.  They  stripped  him  naked,  and  began 
the  pow-wow  round  him,  pushing  him  nearer  and  nearer 


384  A   WESTERN   PIONEER. 

the  fire,  when,  seeing  a  young  Indian  in  the  ring,  he 
seized  him  by  the  arm,  and  with  one  herculean  spring 
threw  him  into  the  fire.  At  the  sight  of  this  the  ring 
was  broken  by  every  Indian  springing  to  the  rescue, 
when  Brady  made  his  escape. 

As  soon  as  they  recovered  from  the  shock  of  this 
catastrophe,  some  of  their  fleetest  men  gave  chase ;  but 
Brady  distanced  all  of  them  but  one  chief,  who  over- 
hauled him,  and  he  surrendered,  and  wanted  the  chief 
to  kill  him  at  once.  "No,"  said  he,  "you  must  go 
back;"  and  they  started  at  a  slow  gait,  both  being 
wearied  by  the  race.  Brady  watched  his  opportunity, 
and  jerked  the  rifle  from  the  chief  and  shot  him  down, 
and  went  on  for  home,  with  the  rifle  and  ammunition 
of  the  chief.  As  the  other  pursuers  came  to  their  dead 
chief  they  very  naturally  came  to  the  conclusion  that 
this  Brady,  as  well  as  the  other,  was  a  devil,  and  that  it 
was  not  safe  to  pursue  him  further. 

These  Bradys,  if  I  was  correctly  informed,  after  all, 
died  natural  deaths,  though  those  who  fell  by  their 
hands  were  numbered  by  the  hundred.  The  incidents 
above  related  I  received  from  persons  personally  ac- 
quainted with  the  Bradys,  and  believed  by  them  to 
be  facts. 

In  the  village  of  StoAve,  on  this  circuit,  lived  one  of 
the  men  who  was  converted  from  infidelity  at  the  Ells- 
worth camp-meeting,  the  year  before,  as  has  been 
already  stated.  He  had  a  brother  of  skeptical  procliv- 
ities, who  was  thrown  into  an  unsettled  state  of  mind, 
relative  to  his  views,  by  the  conversion  of  this  brother, 
and  he  sent  me  word  that,  as  I  had  preached  his  brother 
out  of  infidelity,  he  wished  I  would,  if  I  could,  preach 
him  out  of  it  too. 

In  reply,  I  requested  him  to  furnish  me,  on  paper, 
the  points  on  which  he  desired  light,  expecting  some 
few  only.     Instead  of  this  he  filled  two  sheets  of  letter- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  385 

paper,  making  fourteen  questions,  the  most  intricate, 
subtle,  and  ingenious  that  could  be  framed.  The  ap- 
pointment had  been  made  for  me  to  answer  them,  and 
they  were  quite  widely  known  before  I  saw  them,  and  I 
had  but  a  few  hours  to  prepare  for  the  task,  after  receiv- 
ing them.  Some  who  saw  them  thought  them  to  be 
unanswerable,  and  a  respectable  local  brother  said  it 
would  take  a  god  to  answer  some  of  them. 

The  noise  of  the  appointment  had  drawn  some  peo- 
ple from  eight  miles  distance,  and  all  lesser  distances. 
The  church  was  not  large,  but  crowded  almost  to  suffo- 
cation, above  and  below.  The  weather  was  cold,  and 
the  house  had  been  warmed  to  a  comfortable  tempera- 
ture before  any  one,  except  the  sexton,  entered  it;  but 
when  it  was  filled  with  human  beings  the  animal 
heat  so  increased  the  warmth  of  the  room  as  to  render 
it  quite  uncomfortable;  yet  the  crowded  mass  remained 
for  three  hours  and  five  minutes,  listening  to  the 
discourse. 

I  began  hy  stating  that  it  was  usual  in  preaching 
to  take  a  text  from  the  Bible,  and  prove  or  illustrate  its 
doctrines  from  books,  newspapers,  etc.  But  I  should, 
for  this  time,  take  my  text  from  the  two  sheets  of  paper 
which  I  held  in  hand,  and  prove  my  doctrine  from  the 
Bible.  I  was,  as  I  said,  three  hours  and  five  minutes 
in  answering  the  questions.  The  heat  of  the  house  was 
such  that  I  perspired  till  my  under-clothing  was  com- 
pletely saturated  with  moisture.  After  meeting  I  drank 
at  least  half  a  gallon  of  water,  tea,  etc.,  before  retiring  to 
rest,  and  such  was  the  exhausted  state  of  my  body,  that 
my  system  absorbed  the  whole  of  it  without  any  appar- 
ent increase  of  the  secretions. 

The  next  morning  I  met  the  gentleman  who  sent  me 
the  questions,  who  desired  me  to  give  them  back  to 
him,  "for,"  said  he,  "I  did  not  know  how  they  would 
look  in  the  pulpit.     And,"  he  continued,  "  if  I  get  them 

33 


386  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

back,  no  man  will  ever  get  the  like  from  me  again  to 
take  into  the  pulpit." 

I  told  him  that  I  should  like  to  keep  them  as  a 
curiosity,  but  I  would  not  use  them  to  his  disadvantage. 

"  O,  well,"  said  he,  "if  you  don't  use  them  in  con- 
nection witli  my  name,  I  don't  care  about  them.  But," 
he  continued,  "I  must  give  it  up,  and  shall  advocate 
my  former  sentiments  no  more." 

In  April,  1832,  I  went  by  stage  to  Baltimore? 
Maryland,  on  my  way  to  General  Conference.  From 
Pittsburg  we  traveled  in  the  night,  and  reached  Bed- 
ford, Pennsylvania,  for  breakfast.  As  I  was  getting 
into  the  stage  the  landlord,  knowing  me  to  be  a 
minister,  placed  a  lady  passenger,  who  was  then  in  the 
stage,  under  my  protection,  without  asking  me  or 
giving  me  an  introduction.  It  was,  perhaps,  etiquette 
to  impose  such  a  charge  upon  a  clergyman,  nolens  volens. 
There  were  two  of  them  sitting  upon  the  back  or  best 
seat  in  the  stage,  dressed  so  nearly  alike  that  I  could  not 
tell  which  the  lady  was,  nor  which  the  waiting-maid  ; 
but  being  placed  on  the  same  seat — there  being  nine  of 
us  and  a  baby  inside  the  coach — and  the  one  next  to  me 
having  the  baby,  I  made  the  sad  mistake  of  taking  her 
to  be  the  lady. 

I  had  from  early  youth  resolved  to  keep  myself  at  a 
resj^ectful  distance  from  females,  except  my  own  w7ife 
and  family;  so  that  if  any  of  the  slanderous  stories 
told  on  Methodist  preachers  were  told  on  me,  they 
should  be  made  out  of  whole  cloth.  I  would,  by  undue 
familiarity,  give  no  grounds  for  suspicion.  Owing  to 
this  caution  I  was  never  what  some  people  call  suf- 
ficiently polite  or  attentive  to  the  ladies.  If  I  had 
been,  perhaps  I  should  have  distinguished  between  the 
lady  and  her  maid,  and  not  have  committed  so  grave 
a  blunder. 

The   one   sitting   next  to  me  held  the  babe,   from 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  387 

which  I  inferred  that  she  was  its  mother,  and  to  be  as 
polite  as  possible,  I  opened,  or  attempted  to  open  a  con- 
versation with  her  by  some  commonplace  remarks. 
But  I  soon  found  my  mistake.  I  saw  the  lady's  frown, 
and  in  attempting  to  correct  the  error  and  make  my- 
self agreeable  to  her,  as  she  was  placed  under  my 
special  protection,  I  met  with  a  cold  scowl.  There  was, 
however,  a  gentleman,  a  bachelor,  on  the  middle  seat 
who  understood  the  thing  better  than  I  did,  and  soon 
made  himself  agreeable  to  her.  He  noticed,  chirruped, 
and  even  took  the  baby  in  his  lap.  When  we  dined, 
the  lady  handed  him  the  money  to  pay  for  her  and  the 
maid's  dinner,  instead  of  me,  though  I  was,  standing 
nearer  to  her  than  he  was;  and  when  we  reached 
Chambersburg,  the  lady's  brother  being  in  waiting  for 
her,  she  neither  introduced  me  to  him  nor  thanked  me 
for  my  nominal  care  and  protection. 

The  thing  of  itself  was  of  no  consequence,  further 
than  it  exhibits  human  nature.  She  was,  as  I  learned, 
the  wife  of  a  Pittsburg  merchant,  and  felt  the  dignity 
of  her  position  in  society ;  and  to  be  placed  under  the 
protection  of  such  an  awkward  clown,  that  did  not 
know  the  difference  between  a  lady  and  her  waiting- 
maid,  was  not  to  be  tolerated. 

On  reaching  Baltimore  we  met  several  of  the  preach- 
ers of  that  city,  who  were  waiting  the  arrival  of  delegates 
to  direct  them  to  their  lodgings  for  the  Saturday  and 
Sabbath  of  our  stay.  The  late  Stephen  G.  Eoszel  took 
me  to  his  home,  and  introduced  me  to  his  family  as  the 
veritable  "Silas  Hopewell"  of  the  "Itinerant."  And 
they  expressed  a  high  degree  of  satisfaction  at  seeing  me. 

The  next  day  being  Saturday,  and  there  being  a 
large  number  of  delegates  in  the  city  from  the  South 
and  West,  the  strangers,  of  course,  must  do  the  preach- 
ing on  the  ensuing  Sabbath,  and  slips  were  printed  and 
circulated,  containing  the  several  appointments.     Some 


388  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

of  the  Kadicals,  in  looking  over  the  list  saw  my  name, 
and  exclaimed,  as  if  alarmed,  "  O,  that's  Silas  Hope- 
well !"  showing,  as  I  was  told,  a  disposition  to  keep 
out  of  my  way. 

After  filling  my  appointment  at  three  o'clock,  P.  M., 
on  Sunday,  at  the  old  Eutaw  Church,  brother  S.  L. 
Douglass,  of  Tennessee,  said  he  had  a  special  message 
for  me  to  take  tea  at  his  lodgings,  and  I  must  go.  I 
did  so,  and  as  we  entered  the  house  he  introduced  me  to 
the  good  sister  as  "  brother  Brunson."  She  received 
me  courteously  and  respectfully,  but  no  waj's  warmly. 
But  when  the  good  brother  came  in  from  meeting  his 
class  I  was  introduced  to  him  as  "Silas  Hopewell." 

At  this  the  good  sister  sprang  to  her  feet  and 
exclaimed,  "Why  did  n't  you  tell  me  it  was  Silas  Hope- 
well? I  do  n't  know  any  thing  about  brother  Brunson, 
it  is  Silas  Hopewell  that  I  wanted  to  see;"  and  came 
forward  and  clasping  my  hand,  gave  it  a  hearty  shak- 
ing. The  Eadical  controversy  was  yet  fresh  in  their 
minds,  and  the  part  I  had  taken  in  it  was  the  cause  of 
these  attentions. 

*  Among  the  delegates  from  Tennessee  was  an  odd 
genius,  since  then  widely  known  in  the  world  by  the 
cognomen  of  "  Parson  Brownlow."  He  was  compara- 
tively a  young  man  to  be  a  delegate,  but  his  future 
has  proved  that  his  brethren  did  not  misjudge  of  his 
talents  in  electing  him.  His  appointment  on  this  Sab- 
bath, in  Baltimore,  was  in  the  State-Prison,  at  three 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  to  preach  to  the  prisoners  and  such 
citizens  as  should  attend. 

The  warden  was  a  Methodist,  and  provided  this 
service  on  his  own  account,  there  being  then  no  statutory 
provision  for  it.  After  preaching  he  invited  Brownlow 
to  stay  to  tea.  He  did  so,  and  while  waiting,  as  he  told 
me  the  next  day,  he  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Tennessee,  as 
follows : 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  389 

"Maryland  Penitentiary,         "l 
Baltimore,  April  29,  1832.  J 

"Dear  Brother, — You  see  by  the  date  of  this 
where  I  am.  I  need  not  tell  you  how  it  happened,  or 
by  what  means  I  got  here.  It  is  enough,  at  present, 
for  3tou  to  know  that  I  am  here.  You  will,  no  doubt,  be 
surprised  to  learn  it,  but  so  it  is.  It  is  hard  telling  what 
a  man  is  coming  to,"  etc.  And  then  gave  some  direc- 
tions as  to  his  affairs,  as  if  he  were  to  stay  there. 

';  Why,"  said  I,  "  did  n't  you  explain  yourself?" 

"Not  a  word;  but  I  put  one  of  the  printed  slips 
containing  our  appointments  into  the  letter,  and  he  may 
find  out  by  that,  or  wait  till  I  get  home." 

On  Monday  we  all  went  by  steam-boat  to  the  head 
of  the  Chesapeake  Bay,  or  near  it,  and  then  by  a  horse- 
railroad  to  the  Delaware.  In  the  cars  were  twenty-four 
passengers,  each,  the  cars  being  drawn  by  one  horse,  at 
the  rate  of  ten  miles  an  hour,  the  horse  being  changed 
about  every  four  or  five  miles.  The  rails  appeared  to 
be  on  a  dead  level,  and  the  cars  moved  very  easily; 
indeed,  at  that  early  date  of  railroads  it  was  not  known 
that  even  an  engine  could  ascend  a  slight  grade  with  a 
train  of  cars  behind  it;  but  now  they  ascend  grades 
from  eighty  to  one  hundred  feet  in  the  mile. 

On  reaching  the  Delaware  we  were  hustled  into  an- 
other steamer,  and  were  soon  off  for  the  "City  of  Broth- 
erly Love."  Dinner  was  soon  announced,  and  then  a 
rush  to  get  to  the  table.  Some  of  the  preachers  at- 
tempted to  ask  a  blessing  from  God  on  the  food,  but  no 
one  could  hear  it  five  feet  off.  Unlike  our  Western 
steamers,  where  the  passage  includes  eating  and  sleep- 
ing, we  had  to  pay  half  a  dollar  for  our  dinners,  besides 
the  passage. 

On  reaching  the  wharf  at  Philadelphia,  we  found  it 
crowded  with  preachers,  expecting  the  delegates;  there 
were  also  crowds  upon  crowds  of  hackmen,  idlers,  and 


300  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

lookers-on.  On  this  account  Bev.  B.  Weed's  stentorian 
voice  directed  the  delegates  to  remain  on  board,  to  be 
directed  to  their  lodgings ;  and  before  I  was  aware  of  it, 
his  large  arm  was  around  my  neck,  with  an  affectionate 
salutation.  His  wife  was  my  sister.  I  had  not  seen 
them  in  sixteen  years.  Our  meeting,  of  course,  was 
pleasant,  and  my  stay  with  them  very  agreeable. 

At  this  period  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  ex- 
tended over  the  whole  of  the  United  States.  There  were 
two  hundred  delegates  elected,  very  few  of  whom  failed 
to  attend.  The  wisest  and  best  of  the  ministry  are 
generally  presumed  to  be  elected  to  such  Church  coun- 
cils, though,  like  other  elections,  it  is  not  always  the 
case.  It  is  the  most  popular  men  who  get  the  most 
votes,  whether  they  are  the  wisest  or  not.  This  body 
of  ministers,  as  a  whole,  commanded  a  high  degree  of 
respect  for  talent  and  the  powers  of  debate.  An  emi- 
nent statesman,  resident  in  the  city,  attended  in  the 
gallery,  day  after  day,  and  was  heard  to  say  he  never 
heard  abler  debating  in  Congress,  and  was  never  more 
interested.  Yet  the  frailties  of  human  nature  were 
visible,  even  here. 

Stephen  G.  Eoszel,  of  Baltimore  Conference,  and  who 
lived  in  a  slave  State,  introduced  a  resolution  of  in- 
quiry whether  any  thing  more  could  be  done  for  our 
colored  membership,  in  the  way  of  promoting  their 
spiritual  and  mental  interests.  The  resolution  said 
nothing  about  the  abstract  question  of  slavery,  nor  did 
it  even  hint  at  it,  but  contemplated  only  their  improve- 
ment, morally,  religiously,  and  intellectually. 

At  this  some  of  the  more  Southern  delegates  took 
fire,  and  a  debate  upon  the  abstract  question  of  slavery 
ensued,  and  lasted,  off  and  on,  about  a  week,  when  the 
subject  was  dropped  just  where  it  began.  The  delegates 
from  Virginia,  coming  as  they  did  from  the  country 
where  Nat.  Turner,  and  about  forty  unarmed  negroes, 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  391 

had  panic-struck  tens  of  thousands  b}T  what  was  magni- 
fied into  an  insurrection,  at  Southampton,  rather  favored 
the  abolition  of  slaveiy.  It  was^he  men  of  South  Car- 
olina and  Georgia  who  were  so  afraid  of  giving  spirit- 
ual and  mental  culture  to  the  slave.  Such  was  the 
sensitiveness  of  the  public  mind  upon  this  subject,  and 
especially  those  in  the  slave  regions,  that  the  slightest 
allusion  to  the  race  held  in  bondage,  whether  it  be  in 
Church  or  State,  was  like  the  spark  thrown  upon  pow- 
der— an  explosion  was  sure  to  follow.  This,  of  itself, 
shows  the  evil  of  the  system  per  se.  Any  thing  that  is 
not  evil,  and  only  evil,  and  that  continually,  can  not 
oppose  the  spiritual  and  mental  elevation  of  any  part  of 
the  human  race. 

Another  question  came  up  about  pews  and  free  seats 
in  our  churches.  The  Eastern  men  wanted  the  rule  of 
Discipline  on  this  subject  to  be  so  amended  as  to  allow 
those  who  built  churches  to  control  this  matter,  and 
have  pews  or  free  seats,  or  both,  as  they  saw  fit,  so  that 
the  deed  of  settlement  secured  to  the  itinerant  the  right 
to  the  pulpit.  They  alleged  that  they  could  build  pewed 
houses  where  they  could  build  no  other,  and  that  it  was 
better  to  have  such  houses  than  none  at  all. 

This  roused  up  the  South  and  the  West  to  a  perfect 
storm.  Letters  were  sent  to  Baltimore,  and  some  other 
places,  and  public  meetings  were  called,  and  remon- 
strances and  protests  were  largely  signed  against  this 
"fearful  innovation"  upon  our  time-honored  usages  in 
this  matter.  This  was  also  ably  debated  for  about  a 
week,  and  then  indefinitely  postponed,  upon  the  ground 
that  the  rule  was  only  advisory,  and  had  not  the  au- 
thority or  force  of  a  law. 

On  this  question  our  Baltimore  brethren  thought 
that  the  New  England  minority  should  bow  in  submis- 
sion to  the  will  of  the  majority,  which  should  pervade 
the  whole  Church,  so  as  to  preserve  its  unity  in  usage, 


392  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

as  well  as  in  faith.  But  in  1860  and  '61  the  sons  of 
those  men,  and  some  of  the  same  men,  thought  and  acted 
very  differently  upon  the  slavery  question.  Instead  of 
doing  as  they  wished  their  New  England  brethren  to  do, 
in  reference  to  the  pew  question,  they  did  exactly  the 
opposite,  on  a  question  involving  interests  of  infinitely 
more  importance  than  that  of  pews  or  free  seats  in  our 
churches.  But  such  was  the  genius  of  slavery;  the 
minority  must  rule,  or  ruin  all. 

Another  question  came  up  on  the  presentation  of 
petitions  for  a  rule  to  prevent  any  and  all  of  our  minis- 
try from  receiving  doctorates  from  any  literary  institu- 
tions. We  had  then  but  few  D.  D.'s  among  us;  but  the 
petitions,  and  the  motion  based  upon  them,  made  quite 
a  fuss.  Able  speeches  were  made,  pro  and  con,  and  con- 
tinued for  several  days. 

At  length  James  B.  Finley  said  that  "he  believed  it 
to  be  a  foolish  waste  of  time  to  debate  such  a  question  ; 
the  colleges  and  universities  would  do  as  they  pleased, 
and  would  honor  such  ministers  as  they  thought  worthy 
of  it,  and  the  ministers  would  do  as  they  pleased  about 
accepting  the  honors,  and  no  rule  that  we  could  make 
would  prevent  it.  For  himself  he  cared  nothing  about 
it,  whether  the  colleges  thus  recognized  our  ability  to 
teach  divinity  or  not.  If  they  did  so,  it  was  well;  if 
they  did  not,  it  did  no  harm  ;  for  the  fact  was  that  we 
were  all  doctors  of  divinity,  and  the  world  knew  it. 
We  have  been  doctoring  the  divinity  of  the  country  for 
half  a  century  or  more,  and  have  got  it  into  a  conva- 
lescent state,  and  if  people  would  let  us  alone  we  should 
cure  it  entirely." 

Some  wanted  a  rule,  if  we  had  any  upon  the  sub- 
ject, to  make  every  preacher  who  graduated  to  elders' 
orders  a  D.  D.,  which  would  be  virtually  indorsing 
him  as  being  capable  of  teaching  divinity,  which  the 
doctorate  implied. 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  303 

Finally,  Dr.  M.  Euter  said,  that  "he  was  the  first 
Methodist  minister  that  received  that  honor  from  a 
literary  institution  in  America.  It  was  conferred  on 
him,  unsought,  by  the  Transylvania  University  of  Ken- 
tucky, but  he  was  not  aware  that  it  had  made  him  any 
wiser  or  better,  nor  had  it  done  him  any  harm.  He  did 
not  know  that  he  preached  any  better,  or  any  worse, 
nor  did  it  confer  on  him  any  special  gifts  or  talents.  It 
had  its  influence  with  a  certain  class  of  the  community, 
and  gave  him  an  access  to  that  class  that  he  could  not 
otherwise  have,  while  he  was  not  aware  that  those  who 
opposed  the  reception  of  such  honors  heard  him  with 
any  the  less  profit  on  account  of  it.  It  served  to  shut 
the  mouths  of  that  class  who  treated  us,  as  a  body, 
with  contempt,  because  we  had  no  such  honors.  It 
was  a  matter  of  taste  with  the  colleges,  the  preachers 
and  the  people,  and  we  could  make  no  rule  that  could 
prevent  it  or  control  it.  The  Scriptures  recognized  the 
doctorate  in  the  ministry,  and  for  us  to  say  that  it 
should  not  be  so,  would  be  in  conflict  with  the  Word 
of  God.  He,  therefore,  moved  the  indefinite  postpone- 
ment of  the  whole  subject;"  which  carried  by  a  large 
majority,  and  thus  ended  another  debate  and  discus- 
sion that  amounted  to  nothing. 

The  temperance  cause  received  due  attention,  but 
we  could  not  obtain  a  two-thirds  vote  to  change  the 
General  Eule,  by  restoring  Mr.  Wesley's  original  rule, 
on  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors.  This  was  not  because 
any  one  favored  intemperance;  but  they  thought  the 
rule,  as  it  stood,  was  sufficiently  stringent,  as  it  prohib- 
ited the  use  of  such  liquors,  unless  in  cases  of  necessity. 

At  this  Conference  were  elected  and  ordained  two 
new  Bishops,  Andrew  and  Emory.  It  was  by  common 
consent  agreed  that  one  should  be  from  the  North  and 
one  from  the  South,  and  that  the  delegations  from  each 
section  should  select  their  own  candidate. 


394:  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

In  the  North  Drr  Fisk  was  the  man  to  fill  the  place, 
in  the  estimation  of  a  majority,  but  he  peremptorily  re- 
fused to  accept  of  it.  His  reasons  were  good  and  sound, 
and  showed  not  only  the  purity  of  his  heart,  but  the 
correctness  of  his  judgment  in  such  cases.  He  said 
that  his  place  was  in  the  college,  or  in  educating  the 
youth  of  the  Church.  Others  could  fill  the  Bishop's 
chair  as  well  or  better  than  he  could,  who  could  not 
teach  as  well.  But  if  he  left  the  "Wesley an  University, 
there  was  none  to  fill  his  place.  Educators  were  not 
as  plenty  among  us  then  as  they  are  now. 

Dr.  N.  Bangs  was  talked  of,  and  talked  to,  for  the 
office,  but  he  also  utterly  refused,  on  account  of  family 
afflictions,  which  were  of  a  nature  that  demanded  his 
special  attention  and  presence.  So  the  choice  fell  upon 
Dr.  John  Emory. 

In  the  South,  Dr.  William  Capers  being  then  the 
most  prominent  man  in  that  region,  was  first  thought 
of.  But  he  declined  the  honor,  because  he  was  an  un- 
willing slave-holder.  It  was  understood  and  agreed, 
even  in  the  South  at  that  time,  that  no  slave-holder 
should  fill  the  Episcopal  office.  Mr.  Capers  inherited 
slaves,  but  the  laws  of  the  State  in  which  he  lived 
would  not  allow  of  emancipation.  He  wished  to  send 
them  to  Africa,  but  they  were  so  intermarried  with 
other  slave  families,  that  he  could  not  send  away  his 
slaves  without  breaking  up  family  relations.  He  was 
not  able  to  buy  the  wives  and  children,  nor  the  hus- 
bands owned  by  others,  so  as  to  emancipate  the  family, 
and  therefore  had  to  submit  to  a  disagreeable  necessity 
in  remaining  the  legal  owner  of  slaves.  But  he  did  the 
next  best  thing  he  could  to  emancipation;  that  is,  he 
appointed  a  trustee,  to  whom  he  gave  the  charge  of 
his  slaves,  to  hire  them  out  to  as  good  employers  as 
could  be  found,  allowing  the  slaves  to  have  the  wages 
they  earned.     As  he  could  not  change  his  legal  rela- 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  395 

tion  to  slaves,  he  utterly  refused  the  use  of  his  name 
for  the  Episcopacy;  but  he  recommended  James  O. 
Andrew,  who  he  said  did  not  own  a  slave,  nor  did  his 
father,  so  that  there  was  no  ground  to  fear  that  he 
would  become  a  slave-holder  by  inheritance.  Under 
these  circumstances,  and  with  a  view  to  keep  the 
Episcopacy  pure  from  this  dark  stain,  Mr.  Andrew  was 
elected. 

But  what  a  change  came  over  the  spirit  of  their 
dreams  in  twelve  short  years!  Andrew  had  lost  his 
wife,  and  married  another  who  was  a  slave-holder, 
which  led  to  the  Southern  secession  from  the  Church. 
Capers  became  a  Bishop,  and  it  was  said  that  even 
Bishop  Soule,  who  went  with  them,  was  compelled  to 
accept  of  a  slave  or  two,  from  some  benevolent  friends, 
to  do  his  menial  service!  So  that  all  their  Bishops,  in- 
cluding Bascom,  who  formerly  thundered  so  eloquently 
against  the  "sum  of  all  villainies,"  were,  or  became 
slave-holders,  and  contended  that  the  sj'stem  had  divine 
authority. 

But  this  is  not  the  end  of  that  awful  change.  It  is 
said  by  those  who  have  the  means  of  knowing,  such  as 
"Parson  Brownlow,"  that  those  Southern  Methodist 
preachers,  by  advocating  the  system,  and  its  direful 
effects,  did  more  to  bring  about  the  late  Southern  rebell- 
ion— under  pretense  of  secession  of  States,  as  they  had 
of  Conferences  from  the  Church — than  any  other  class 
of  men  on  that  polluted  soil.  They  did  more  because 
there  were  more  of  them,  and  because  of  their  greater 
influence,  which  grew  out  of  their  numerical  strength 
and  superior  talents.  No  well-informed  person  doubts 
that  if  those  Southern  Methodist  preachers  had  not 
fomented  the  rebellion,  it  would  not  have  occurred. 
The  statesmen  who  led  in  it  could  not  have  carried  the 
mass  of  the  people  with  them,  if  those  preachers  had 
been  against  them,  nor  if  they  had  been  neutral.     It 


396  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

was  only  through  the  influence  of  these  fallen  minis- 
ters that  Jefferson  Davis  and  company  could  control 
the  masses  in  their  favor. 

In  all  this  we  see  the  fearful  consequences  of  taking 
one  false  step.  They  screened  Andrew  and  then  se- 
ceded, that  Bishops  and  preachers  might  be  slave-hold- 
ers. Then  they  must  justify  their  course,  by  advocat- 
ing and  defending  the  system,  on  account  of  which 
they  went  off  from  among  us,  and  when  from  the 
course  of  things  it  became  manifest  that  the  domain 
of  slavery  must  be  curtailed  instead  of  enlarged,  they 
counseled  a  secession  of  States,  alias  rebellion  and 
treason,  which  led  to  all  the  horrors  and  expenses  of 
civil  war. 

At  that  Conference,  also,  we  had  a  long  debate  on 
the  Canada  question.  Our  brethren  in  that  Province 
were  under  the  necessity  of  becoming  independent  of 
the  Church  in  the  States,  or  they  would  have  to  suffer 
many  inconveniences  from  their  civil  rulers,  who  feared 
that  political  evils,  to  them,  would  grow  out  of  a  con- 
nection of  the  Conference  with  those  of  the  States.  In 
1828  the  General  Conference  consented  to  the  separa- 
tion ;  and  in  1832  a  delegation  from  the  Canada  Confer- 
ence claimed  a  pro-rata  share  of  the  Book  Concern.  Dr. 
Emory  opposed  the  claim  on  the  ground  that  if  granted 
it  would  be  a  precedent,  of  which  even  a  secession 
might  take  advantage.  He  also  raised  technical  and 
legal  objections  under  the  Eestrictive  Eules,  and  the 
claim  was  rejected.  But  though  this  Conference  re- 
fused it  as  a  right,  yet  a  plan  was  adopted  by  which 
they  received  an  equal  if  not  greater  benefit  in  the  sale 
to  them  of  books  at  a  price  below  what  it  would  have 
cost  them  to  print. 

On  this  Canada  question,  I  believe  the  Southern 
delegates  were  unanimously  against  it,  notwithstanding 
that  Conference  acted  in  accordance  with  the  consent 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  397 

of  the  General  Conference.  But  they  feared  the  prec- 
edent; yet,  strange  to  tell,  these  very  Southern  men, 
twelve  years  after,  went  out  from  us  violently,  and  then 
claimed  the  very  thing  they  refused  to  grant  to  the 
Canada  Conference !  And  they  obtained  it  in  a  Court 
under  pro -slavery  influences,  on  the  very  ground  on 
which  Canada  claimed  it,  that  is,  a  plan  of  sepa- 
ration agreed  upon,  though  that  plan  afterward  was 
disannulled! 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

AT  the  General  Conference  of  1832  I  saw  and  heard 
Bishop  M'Kendree  for  the  last  time.  At  the  re- 
quest of  the  Conference  the  Bishop  preached  the  funeral 
sermon  of  Bishop  George,  who  had  died  in  the  inter- 
val of  the  General  Conference.  He  was  very  infirm, 
not  able  to  ascend  the  pulpit  stairs  in  the  "  Academy," 
afterward  called  the  "  Union  Church,"  and  Bishops 
Soule  and  Hedding  assisted  him  in  ascending  to  the 
desk,  one  under  each  arm,  as  Aaron  and  Hur  held  up 
the  hands  of  Moses. 

The  discourse  was  characteristic  of  the  Bishop,  and 
made  a  lasting  impression.  The  scene  was  a  very  af- 
fecting one.  One  beloved  and  respected  Bishop  had 
died ;  another,  trembling  over  the  grave,  and  not  ex- 
pected to  see  another  General  Conference,  was  per- 
forming the  last  sad  office  for  the  dead.  Thus  our 
fathers  were  going,  one  after  another;  many,  if  not 
all,  wept. 

The  closing  scene  of  the  Conference  was  much  like 
that  of  other  deliberative  bodies  in  a  great  hurry  to  get 
away.  The  last  day  had  come.  The  unfinished  business 
required  a  full  day  more,  but  such  was  the  anxiety  of 
the  delegates  to  leave  for  home,  that  a  night  session  was 


398  A   WESTERN     PIONEER. 

called  for.  Then  the  question  came  up,  whether  the 
Bishops,  either  of  them,  could  occupy  the  chair.  Not 
one  of  the  older  ones  felt  able,  after  four  weeks  of  close 
attention  to  business  all  day,  to  sit  there  half  or  more 
of  the  night.  This  brought  the  matter  to  a  stand,  till 
Bishop  Emory  signified  his  willingness  to  take  the  chair, 
when  the  night  session  was  determined  on.  As  usual, 
in  such  cases,  business  was  hurried  through  without 
much  thought  or  consideration  ;  but  as  most  of  it  had 
been  some  time  on  hand,  and,  of  course,  been  thought 
of,  perhaps  it  was  well  done.  About  midnight  we  gave 
the  parting  hand  and  scattered  to  the  four  winds, 
never  all  to  meet  again  till  the  general  judgment. 

For  sixteen  years  previous  to  this  visit  to  the  sea- 
board, I  had  not  tasted  of  sea-food.  Having  been  raised 
within  its  reach,  it  was  very  acceptable  and  agree- 
able— fresh  shad  and  other  sea-fish  ;  oysters,  clams,  etc., 
of  which  my  good  sister  gave  me  an  ample  supply. 

After  the  Conference  adjourned,  I  remained  one 
day  to  rest  and  visit,  and  at  two  o'clock  the  next  morn- 
ing took  the  fast  line  of  stages  for  Pittsburg.  In  twen- 
ty-four hours  we  reached  Chambersburg,  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  from  Philadelphia,  not  having  stopped 
to  rest  a  moment.  Our  eating,  three  meals,  had  to  be 
done  in  fifteen  minutes,  each.  The  remaining  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  Pittsburg,  being  over  the 
mountains,  required  thirty  hours,  making  fifty-four 
hours  in  getting  through,  then  the  quickest  trip  ever 
made.  The  only  sleep  we  got  in  this  fifty-four  hours, 
which  was  but  little,  wras  taken  in  the  stage.  Of 
course,  at  Pittsburg  I  needed  some  rest,  and  went  to 
the  house  of  my  old  friend,  brother  Yerner,  father-in- 
law  to  Bishop  Simpson,  and  slept  a  good  part  of  the 
twenty  hours  I  had  to  spare  before  leaving  for  home, 
which  I  reached  the  night  following,  being  seventy 
miles  from  Pittsburg. 


REV.  ALFRED    BRUNSON.  399 

This  was  before  the  inauguration  of  railroads,  and 
for  that  time  was  the  fastest  traveling  by  land  that 
could  be  had;  as  much  of  the  road  was  rough,  it  was 
not  very  comfortable;  and  if  railroads  and  cushioned 
coaches  were  now  to  be  struck  out  of  being,  and  the 
traveling  public  were  to  be  thrown  back  upon  the  old 
stages  of  that  day,  it  would  be  deemed  hard  fare. 

On  my  way  home  in  the  stage,  I  fell  in  company 
with  a  gentleman  from  Utica,  Kew  York,  of  whom  I 
inquired,  and  from  whom  I  learned  of  the  death  of  my 
uncle,  Ezra  Starr  Cozier,  who  was  or  had  been  Mayor 
of  that  city.  He  was  the  second  victim  of  the  cholera, 
which  reached  that  city  that  season.  Up  to  that  time 
and  place,  the  contagion  had  fallen  mostly  upon  the 
intemperate,  but  here,  it  was  said,  the  temperate  were 
taken  first. 

He  was  fearful  of  death,  if  the  contagion  should 
reach  that  place,  and  had  his  trunks  packed  to  leave 
for  higher  and  healthier  ground  on  the  first  appear- 
ance of  the  disease.  But  he  was  taken  with  it  before 
he  had  heard  of  the  attack  upon  his  friend,  of  like  po- 
sition in  society,  and  who  died  but  a  few  minutes  be- 
fore he  did.  How  important  to  be  always  ready,  "for 
the  Son  of  man  cometh  in  an  hour  when  ye  think  not!" 

On  reaching  my  circuit — Cleveland — the  news  that 
the  cholera  was  making  rapid  strides  westward,  and  was 
expected  along  the  lake,  gave  rise  to  universal  alarm. 
Emigration  up  the  lake  was  then  by  the  thousand. 
Every  vessel  was  crowded  with  passengers,  a  large 
portion  of  whom  were  from  foreign  countries,  and 
great  fears  prevailed  of  the  approach  of  the  disease  by 
this  means.  Every  precaution  was  taken  in  Cleveland 
and  other  lake  towns  to  ward  off  the  calamity.  But 
as  the  disease  seemed  to  move  in  the  atmosphere,  and 
overleap  all  quarantines,  guards,  and  sanitary  defenses, 
none  of  these  things  prevented  its  onward  motion. 


400  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

One  night  as  I  was  lodging  in  Euclid,  the  family 
was  aroused  and  alarmed  about  two  o'clock,  A.  M.,by  a 
neighbor  who  reported  that  a  large  brig  was  landing 
foreign  emigrants  on  the  point,  supposed  to  have  the 
cholera  among  them,  and  that  the  town  authorities  had 
ordered  a  guard  to  be  so  placed  as  to  prevent  them 
from  coming  into  the  settlements  and  thus  spread  the 
disease,  at  the  same  time  doing  all  that  could  be  done 
for  their  comfort  and  health.  The  good  brother  and 
his  neighbors  started  for  this  service,  and  before  they 
returned  I  left  for  Cleveland. 

I  found  that  a  messenger  had  also  been  sent  to 
Cleveland  to  give  the  alarm,  for  I  met,  about  half-way, 
say  four  miles,  a  doctor  and  several  others,  who  in- 
quired about  the  story.  They  continued  on  their 
journey,  but  were  soon  back  with  the  report  that  there 
wTas  no  landing  of  sick  emigrants.  The  brig  was  out 
of  wood,  and  sent  the  boat  ashore  to  pick  up  some 
drift-wood  along  the  beach.  Some  one  seeing  this  im- 
agined all  the  rest,  and  raised  the  alarm. 

In  July,  1832,  we  held  a  camp-meeting  about  four 
miles  from  Cleveland,  in  hopes  to  reach  somebody 
from  that  wicked  city.  It  was  deemed  prudent  not  to 
include  a  Sabbath  day  in  the  time  of  holding  it,  lest 
the  rowdy  part  of  the  population  should  avail  them- 
selves of  it  to  annoy  us.  But  the  result  showed  that 
there  was  very  little  difference  in  the  days;  for  when 
the  sons  of  God  present  themselves  before  the  Lord. 
Satan  is  most  likely  to  be  there  also,  and  if  he  or  his 
children  can't  have  the  Sabbath  for  it,  they  will  take 
some  other  day. 

"Wednesday  seemed  to  be  the  general  holiday  for 
that  class,  and  we  were  fairly  overrun  with  them.  As 
they  must  spend  one  night,  at  least,  upon  the  ground, 
that  night  was  selected  for  their  sight-seeing. 

To  attempt  to  close  public  worship  and  retire  to 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  401 

the  tent  for  rest  was  a  hopeless  idea,  for  our  visitors 
had  no  tents  nor  friends  who  had,  and  they  were  en- 
tirely too  numerous  to  be  aceommodated  by  the  tent- 
holders.  Our  only  remedy,  therefore,  was  to  keep  their 
attention  toward  the  stand  as  long  as  possible,  say,  till 
midnight  or  after,  when  we  supposed  that  most  likely 
they  would  leave  for  their  homes. 

To  accomplish  this  we  had  a  long  sermon  from  the 
longest-winded  man  on  the  ground,  which  was  followed 
by  some  half  a  dozen  exhortations— interspersed  with 
singing — by  the  loudest  son  of  thunder  we  had  among 
us.  It  fell  to  my  lot  to  give  the  last  of  these  exhorta- 
tions in  which  I  talked  about  an  hour,  and  told  all  the 
fearful  and  alarming  anecdotes  I  could  call  to  mind, 
many  of  which  were  enough  to  raise  the  hair  upon  a 
sinner's  head,  and  make  the  blood  chill  in  his  veins. 

About  two  o'clock,  A.  M.,  we  closed  and  dismissed 
the  congregation,  requesting  the  people  to  retire  to  their 
tents,  if  they  had  any,  and  if  not,  to  their  homes.  But 
after  all  who  had  tents  had  retired,  the  ground  was  still 
overrun  with  stragglers,  to  watch  whom  required  all  the 
membership  of  the  male  sex  present. 

To  learn  how  things  went  on  outside  of  the  camp, 
and  especially  in  the  public  highway,  which  was  some 
twenty  rods  from  the  tents,  1  took  a  brother  preacher 
with  me,  and  we  mingled  with  the  crowd  in  the  dark, 
unnoticed  by  them,  as  they  left  the  ground.  In  passing 
to  the  road,  through  the  woods,  we  heard  their  remarks, 
at  some  of  which  we  could  but  smile,  however  much  we 
mourned  over  their  obdurate  sinfulness. 

One  gang  of  sailors  were  just  behind  us  discussing 
the  merits  of  the  preaching  and  exhortations.  One  of 
them  said,  using  a  profane  word,  "Those  Methodist 
preachers  are  the  greatest  liars  I  ever  heard.  They  can 
tell  more  yarns  than  any  old  salt  I  ever  saw,  and  that 
last  one  beats  all  the  rest.     If  I  owed  the  devil  twenty 

34 


402  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

liars,  and  he  wouldn't  take  him  Tor  it,  I  would  cheat 
him  out  of  the  debt." 

We,  on  the  whole,  succeeded  in  preserving  pretty 
good  order.  The  rowdy  part  of  the  people  present  did 
not  seem  to  be  vicious,  but  they  wished  to  see  and  hear 
what  was  going  on,  and  to  have  some  amusement. 

The  meeting,  however,  was  the  means  of  doing  con- 
siderable good.  There  were  probably  fifty  conversions, 
and  a  general  quickening  of  the  membership.  One 
occurrence  is  well  worth  recording.  At  the  sacrament 
of  the  Lord's-Supper  it  was  stated  that  this  was  not  a 
Methodist  table,  but  the  Lord's  table;  and  all  the 
Lord's  people  were  invited  to  partake  with  us.  It  was 
a  Christian  duty  to  whittle  down  the  differences  between 
Christians  to  as  narrow  a  point  as  possible,  and  to 
unite  on  all  points  on  which  we  do  agree.  Here  was 
one  on  which  all  orthodox  Christians  agreed,  and  on 
this  we  eould  and  ought  to  meet. 

There  was  upon  the  ground  a  man  of  fourscore  or 
more  years,  who  had  enjoyed  the  meeting  very  well, 
having  several  children  among  us  happy  in  the  Lord. 
The  old  pilgrim  came  forward,  leaning  upon  his  staff, 
and  said,  "  I  am  a  regular  Baptist,  and  I  suppose  my 
brethren  will  chide,  but  I  can 't  help  it.  I  see  my  Lord's 
table  spread  before  me,  and  am  invited  to  eat,  and  I 
must  do  it."  Conforming  his  actions  to  his  words,  he 
kneeled  down  and  received  the  consecrated  elements 
much  to  his  comfort.  I  was  told  that  his  brethren  did 
chide  him,  but  finding  that  public  sentiment  was  in  his 
favor,  and  as  he  was  an  old  man,  just  verging  over  the 
grave,  they  concluded  to  let  him  pass  with  a  simple 
admonition.   - 

We  had  some  increase  this  year,  and  the  circuit  was 
divided,  and  out  of  it  was  formed  two  four-weeks' 
circuits. 

Our  Conference  this  year  (1832)  met  in  Wellsburg, 


REV.    ALFRED     BRUNSON.  403 

Virginia,  on  the  Ohio  Eiver.  In  going  to  it  I  attended 
a  camp -meeting  at  Castleman's  Kun,  eight  miles  back 
of  that  city,  and  two  and  a  half  from  Bethany,  the  resi- 
dence of  Alexander  Campbell.  Mr.  Campbell  was  in 
attendance,  to  whom  I  had  an  introduction,  and  with 
whom  I  had  a  long  conversation  on  the  debate  then 
pending  between  him  and  Owen,  who  was  called  "the 
grand  Turk,"  on  account  of  his  hostility  to  the  Christian 
religion. 

He  said  that  Owen  paid  him  a  visit  on  his  way  to 
Europe,  in  which  he  felt  of  him  a  little  to  try  his 
caliber.  In  one  of  their  walks  in  the  field  they  passed 
the  family  cemetery,  when  Mr.  Owen,  pointing  to  it, 
said,  "There  is  one  point  in  which  we  infidels  have  the 
advantage  of  you  Christians ;  we  have  no  fear  in  death." 
Mr.  Campbell  asked  him  if  he  had  any  hope  in  death. 
Owen  hesitated  a  moment,  when  he  said,  "  No."  "Well, 
then,"  responded  Campbell,  "you  are  just  on  a  level 
with  that  ox.  He  stands  in  the  shade  whisking  off  the 
flies,  and  he  has  neither  hope  nor  fear  in  death." 

At  my  hour  to  preach  I  invited  him  to  a  seat  on  the 
stand,  intending  to  get  upon  his  toes  in  my  discourse 
on  the  subject  of  experimental  religion,  and  to  show 
him  that  grace  was  not  necessarily  connected  with  Gos- 
pel ordinances,  however  important  those  ordinances 
might  be  as  means  of  grace.  I  argued  this  from  Script- 
ure and  from  the  facts  of  experience. 

Among  the  facts  related  was  that  of  a  young  lawyer, 
a  son  of  General  Moore,  of  Beaver,  Pennsylvania,  who 
was  known  to  Campbell  and  many  others  upon  the 
ground.  Young  Moore  was  skeptical  when  in  health, 
but  when  death  stared  him  in  the  face,  he  became 
anxious  for  his  soul's  salvation.  His  mother  was  pious  ; 
his  father  Was  not  at  that  time  a  professor  of  religion, 
but  a  believer  in  it,  and  afterward  a  partaker  of  it. 
A  pious  sister  was  tying  under  the  same  fatal  disease, 


404  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

the  consumption,  at  the  same  time,  and  in  the  same 
house  or  room,  but  was  happy  in  God's  love,  and  in  the 
prospect  of  a  better  world.  It  was  this,  probably,  that 
led  him  to  serious  reflection. 

One  morning  his  father  came  into  his  room  and 
inquired  after  his  health.  "I  am  no  better,  father,  in 
body,  but  I  am  better  in  soul." 

"  How  is  that,  my  son  ?" 

"Why,  God,  for  Christ's  sake,  has  pardoned  all  my 
sins." 

"But,  my  son,  you  are  about  to  change  worlds,  and 
it  is  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the 
Almighty.  Give  me  a  reason  of  the  hope  that  is 
in  you." 

"  Well,  father,  I  was  lying  here  last  night  thinking  of 
my  approach  to  the  grave,  and  to  the  judgment-seat  of 
Christ,  and  that  I  was  not  prepared  for  it.  I  saw  my- 
self a  sinner,  and  lost  forever,  unless  God,  in  mercy, 
should  pardon  me.  While  thus  meditating  and  query- 
ing what  to  do,  this  text  struck  my  mind,  'Come  unto 
me  all  ye  that  labor  and  are  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give 
you  rest.'  And  I  thought  that  /was  of  the  character 
to  whom  that  promise  was  made;  I  was  laboring  and 
heavy  laden.  I  thought  also  of  the  condition  upon 
which  he  promised  the  rest,  '  Come  unto  me.'  I 
thought  that  I  had  come  unto  him  in  prayer,  in  the  best 
way  I  knew  how.  Then  I  thought  of  his  immutability, 
that  he  could  not  lie.  He  had  said  to  such  a  character, 
'Come  unto  me  and  I  will  give  you  rest,'  and  I  believed 
he  would,  and  he  did." 

"Now,"  said  I,  "here  is  a  case  generally  known 
throughout  this  part  of  the  country.  No  one  who  is 
acquainted  with  the  circumstances  can  for  a  moment 
doubt  the  genuineness  of  the  young  man's  conversion, 
and  that,  too,  without  the  intervention  of  an  ordinance 
of  the  Gospel.     To  have  taken  him  from  his  bed  and 


REV.   ALFRED    BRUNSON.  405 

immersed  him  in  water,  when  he  was  not  able  to  sit 
up,  would  have  been  to  kill  him.  But  he  obtained  par- 
don without  it,  and  died  happy.  Therefore  immersion, 
or  baptism  in  any  mode  or  form,  or  by  any  hands,  can 
not  be  essential  or  necessary  to  the  forgiveness  of  sins." 

I  was  told  that  Campbell,  who  sat  behind  me,  and, 
of  course,  not  in  my  sight,  was  very  restless  under  the 
discourse,  and  kept  hitching  about  as  if  on  nettles.  He 
went  home  in  company  with  his  wife  and  one  of  our 
brethren,  who  lived  a  little  beyond  him.  Mrs.  Camp- 
bell and  the  brother  conversed  together  all  the  way,  but 
Mr.  Campbell  spoke  only  twice  in  going  the  two  and  a 
half  miles,  and  then  all  that  he  said  was,  "I  don't 
know  about  that  young  man."  From  this  it  was  evident 
that  he  saw  and  felt  the  force  of  the  argument  based 
upon  the  fact  related. 

In  two  days  after  our  Conference  began  its  session 
in  Wellsburg,  eight  miles  from  Campbell's  residence. 
He  came  into  the  place  and  invited  the  Conference  to 
hear  him,  alleging  that  he  perceived  that  some  of  our 
ministers  did  not  rightly  understand  his  doctrines,  and 
he  wished  to  have  an  opportunity  to  explain  himself. 
Though  it  came  to  us  in  Conference,  in  his  own  hand- 
writing, and  in  the  name  of  an  invitation,  yet  at  the 
same  time  he  had  posters  stuck  up  all  around  town  in 
the  nature  of  a  challenge  to  the  Conference. 

He  went  to  his  father-in-law,  who  was  the  sole 
trustee  of  the  Campbellite  Church  in  the  place,  for  the 
use  of  it  for  the  expected  discussion;  but  his  father- 
in-law  refused  to  let  him  have  it,  saying,  "I  have  given 
it  up  to  the  Methodists  during  the  Conference,  who 
have  come  here  to  do  business,  and  you  have  no  right  to 
interfere  with  them."  Upon  this  he  appointed  his 
meeting  in  the  court-house. 

When  his  invitation  challenge  was  presented  to  the 
Conference,   I  felt  a  desire  to  hear  him  and  reply  to 


406  A  WESTERN   PIONEER. 

him ;  but  Bishop  Emory,  who  presided,  objected  to 
having  any  debates  or  controversy  at  the  Conference. 
He  said  we  had  come  there  to  do  business;  many  of  the 
preachers  were  entertained  by  the  Baptists,  and  he 
thought  it  to  be  improper  for  us  to  controvert  their  doc- 
trines while  enjoying  their  hospitalities.  He  advised 
that  we  have  a  session  that  afternoon,  at  the  hour  of  the 
meeting  or  time  appointed  for  it,  two  o'clock.  This  sug- 
gestion was  adopted,  and  I  afterward  saw  clearly  that  it 
was  the  better  waj^,  for  the  citizens,  and  even  his  own 
people,  did  not  go  to  the  court-house  to  hear  him ;  and 
not  having  the  hearers  he  expected,  he  did  not  deliver 
the  discourse  he  had  intended,  and  left  the  town  at  once, 
evidently  disappointed  and  deeply  chagrined. 

This  was  regarded  as  a  greater  victory,  and  he 
seemed  to  feel  more  sensibly  whipped  than  he  probably 
would  if  he  had  been  met,  and  thoroughly  cleaned  out, 
by  argument. 

In  his  movements  in  this  matter,  Mr.  Campbell 
evinced  that  he  possessed  one  trait  of  character,  at 
least,  known  in  Western  parlance  as  the  "big-head." 
He,  or  any  other  man,  must  think  he  is  of  great  conse- 
quence, to  suppose  that  a  Conference  of  seventy  or 
eighty  ministers,  who  had  met  to  transact  their  annual 
business,  would  leave  it  to  listen  to  his  explanation  of 
his  doctrines,  because  the  arguments  of  one  of  the  hum- 
blest of  the  body  had  upset  the  theory  upon  which  he 
was  misleading  his  followers! 

At  this  Conference  (1832)  I  was  appointed  to  Alle- 
ghany City,  which  had  been  a  part  of  Pittsburg  station 
till  that  year.  Dr.  Martin  Euter  and  Thomas  Drum- 
mond  were  appointed  to  Pittsburg,  and  by  an  agree- 
ment between  the  two  stations,  in  dividing,  a  plan  was 
so  arranged  that  we  three  interchanged,  as  if  we  were 
all  in  one  charge.  The  people  desired  this,  so  that  in 
the  setting  off  of  Alleghany  City  into  a  separate  charge, 


REV.  ALFRED  BRUNSON.  407 

they  should  lose  nothing  in  the  variety  of  preaching. 
This  brought  me  into  one  of  the  pulpits  in  Pittsburg 
once  every  Sabbath,  and  brought  one  of  them  to  my 
pulpit  at  the  same  time. 

There  were  so  many  appointments  in  the  two  charges 
that  most  of  the  time  we  had  three  apiece  on  Sunday, 
besides  the  week-night  preachings,  and  prayer-meet- 
ings, and  class-meetings.  This,  with  our  necessary 
studies,  and  visiting,  kept  us  pretty  well  employed. 
God  blessed  our  united  labors,  and  a  gracious  revival 
continued  most  of  the  Winter,  so  that  at  least  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  were  added  to  the  two  charges.  On  some 
Sundays,  when  I  filled  a  three-o'clock  appointment  in  a 
suburban  village,  I  had  to  travel  about  ten  miles  on 
foot,  and  preach  three  times.  This  was  tiresome  to  the 
flesh,  but  produced  a  comfortable  conscience. 

Our  head-quarters  for  the  preachers'  meetings  were 
at  Dr.  Euter's.  In  discussing  one  subject,  on  an  inci- 
dent in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  of  England,  I  said 
that  it  occurred  in  such  a  year.  "No,"  said  the  Doctor, 
"it  was  at  such  a  time,"  naming  another  date.  I  was 
very  certain  that  I  was  correct;  but  he  gave  a  signifi- 
cant nod  of  the  head,  as  much  as  to  say,  I  am  a  D.  D., 
and  have  been  president  of  a  college,  and  wrote  the 
history  of  the  event  in  question,  and  I  know.  This 
ended  the  contest  for  that  time.  But  at  home  I  exam- 
ined his  Church  Histoiy,  and  found  it  as  I  had  said. 
At  my  next  visit  to  his  house  I  asked  him  if  he  had 
looked  up  that  date?  "  No,"  he  said,  "I  am  satisfied 
that  I  am  right."  At  this  I  stepped  up  to  his  book- 
case, and  taking  out  his  edition  of  Gregory  asked  if  he 
would  admit  that  to  be  good  authority?  "Yes,  if  you 
find  it  there  I  will  give  it  up."  I  then  opened  at  the 
page,  and  showed  it  to  him.  "Well,"  said  he,  "this  is 
not  the  first  time  I  have  been  mistaken." 

There  was  so  much  humor  and  good   sense  in  his 


408  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

reply  that  it  took  all  the  feathers  out  of  my  cap  for  the 
victory  I  had  obtained. 

In  the  Spring  and  Summer  of  1832  the  cholera  had 
visited  Pittsburg  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  clergy  of  the 
place  held  a  meeting,  and  agreed  not  only  to  pray  that 
the  destroying  angel  might  pass  lightly  over  the  place, 
but,  also,  to  recommend  a  day  of  fasting,  humiliation, 
and  prayer,  to  be  observed  by  all  the  people  in  the  two 
cities  and  their  suburbs.  Under  this  recommendation 
all  the  factories  were  stopped,  and  all  the  stores  were 
closed,  except  one;  and  all  the  shops,  except  one,  a  sad- 
dler's, were  shut,  and  the  people  generally  attended 
church.  While  other  cities,  no  more  exposed,  but  of 
less  praying,  were  visited  heavily  by  the  disease,  Pitts- 
burg had  but  few  cases,  and  much  fewer  deaths. 

After  the  contagion  had  passed  the  same  course  was 
taken,  and  a  day  of  thanksgiving  was  as  religiously 
observed. 

In  1833,  when  the  same  disease  appeared  again,  a 
similar  course  was  pursued  with  a  similar  result,  there 
being  but  twenty-five  cases,  out  of  which  five  only  died. 
This  was  also  followed  by  a  day  of  thanksgiving  to  God 
for  his  mercy  in  sparing  the  people.  But  on  this  second 
day  of  fasting  the  merchant  who  had  refused,  the  year 
before,  to  close  his  store,  was  a  broken  merchant,  and 
had  no  store  to  close  or  keep  open ;  and  the  saddler  who 
refused  to  keep  the  first  day  was  now  in  the  peniten- 
tiary, and  compelled  to  observe  the  second  fast  and 
thanksgiving,  because  the  warden  of  the  prison  kept 
the  prisoners  in  their  cells,  without  labor. 

After  the  failure  of  Madison  College,  in  Uniontown, 
our  Conference  had  been  on  the  lookout  for  another. 
Alleghany  College,  at  Meadville,  being  dead,  or  having 
no  school,  the  trustees  of  it  invited  our  Conference  to 
take  the  patronage  of  that  institution.  In  1831  I  was 
chairman  of  a  committee  appointed  by  the  Conference 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  409 

to  visit  Meadville,  and  confer  with  the  trustees  upon 
the  subject.  The  terms  of  their  proposal  were,  that 
we  should  patronize  it,  but  let  them  have  the  run- 
ning of  it.  This,  we  told  them,  would  not  answer  our 
purpose ;  if  we  patronized  it  we  must  have  the  control 
of  it,  lest,  if  we  got  it  under  way,  from  some  freak  we 
might  be  ousted  from  it. 

They  then  concluded  to  invite  the  Conference  to  hold 
its  session  there  in  1833,  which  was  done,  and  a  better 
result  was  effected.  I  was  again  appointed  on  the  com- 
mittee to  confer  with  the  trustees.  I  informed  them 
that  the  only  terms  upon  which  the  Conference  would 
consent  to  take  the  college  were  those  by  which  Dick- 
inson College,  in  Carlisle,  had  been  placed  under  the 
patronage  of  the  Baltimore  and  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ences. They  were,  that  we  must  have  a  majority  of  the 
Board  of  Trustees,  by  their  appointing  our  friends  to  fill 
the  vacancies  then  existing,  and  those  caused  by  resig- 
nations of  persons  who  took  no  action  in  its  concerns. 
We  did  not  ask  for  an  entire  change  in  the  board;  we 
preferred,  to  retain  all  the  old  members  of  it  who  lived 
in  the  pla<&,  and  Were  active  in  the  concerns  of  the 
College ;  but  by  filling  vacancies,  enough  of  our  friends 
could  be  appointed  to  give  us  a  majority. 

The  President  and  Secretary  of  the  Board  were 
Presbyterians,  with  whom  we  were  satisfied;  they  filled 
vacancies  with  such  names  as  we  suggested.  Some  few, 
who  lived  at  a  distance,  were  induced  to  resign,  and 
our  men  elected,  till  we  had  a  working  majority  in  the 
board.  I  told  them,  also,  that  if  we  could  not  succeed 
in  running  the  institution  we  would  resign,  and  give  it 
back  to  them,  and  in  as  good  condition,  at  least,  as  we 
found  it. 

This  College  was  chartered  in  1816,  through  the 
influence,  principally,  of  the  Eev.  Mr.  Alden,  the  Pres- 
byterian minister  of  the  place.     He  had  procured  sub- 

35 


410  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

scriptions  from  the  friends  of  education,  and  donations 
from  the  State,  sufficient  to  erect  a  fine,  large,  four-story 
building,  including  the  basement,  with  sufficient  rooms 
for  library,  chapel,  and  recitations  of  two  hundred 
students,  to  which  were  added  a  three-story  wing  on 
each  side,  for  the  residences  of  professors  and  teachers ; 
he  had  also  procured  a  library  of  eight  thousand  vol- 
umes of  rare  and  excellent  books.  The  whole  property, 
including  fifteen  acres  of  land,  half  a  mile  from  the  vil- 
lage, on  the  slope  of  a  hill  facing  the  south,  was  valued 
at  fifty  thousand  dollars. 

Two  or  three  times  Mr.  Alden,  as  President,  with 
some  professors  to  assist,  had  attempted  to  open  the 
school,  but  I  was  told  that  only  seven  students  could  be 
procured  at  any  one  time.  This,  of  course,  could  not 
sustain  the  concern,  and  each  time  it  came  to  a  dead 
stand. 

Why  he  could  not  obtain  students  in  a  country  with 
a  full  average  supply  of  men  of  education,  and  the 
means  to  educate  their  children,  was  an  unsolved  mys- 
tery. He  was  said  to  be  a  good  scholar;  he  was  cer- 
tainly a  good  financier,  and  he  excelled  in  raising  con- 
tributions of  books,  etc.,  but  that  seemed  to  be  the  end 
of  his  mission. 

The  old  board  strove  hard  to  have  Mr.  Alden  con- 
tinued in  the  Presidency,  or  at  least  to  have  a  professor- 
ship, in  view  of  his  interest  and  services  in  favor  of  the 
institution ;  but  we  told  them  that,  however  much  we 
respected  Mr.  Alden  in  the  premises,  the  history  of  lit- 
erary institutions  showed  clearly  that  no  one  had  suc- 
ceeded with  a  mixed  faculty.  They  must  be  under  the 
patronage  and  control,  through  the  faculty,  of  some  one 
denomination,  or  divisions  and  parties  would  be  formed 
which  would  end  in  disruption,  discord,  and  prostration. 

I  referred  to  Dickinson  College,  at  Carlisle,  which 
being  a  State  institution,  and  to  please  all,  or  as  many 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  411 

as  possible,  had  been  three  times  started  with  a  mixed 
faculty,  and  had  as  many  times  failed.  After  lying  idle, 
like  this  College,  for  some  years,  it  had  fallen  into  the 
hands  of  the  Methodists,  and  was  now  prospering. 

I  also  referred  to  the  two  State  Universities  of  Ohio, 
Athens  and  Oxford,  both  of  which,  it  was  said,  had  run 
down  under  the  weight  of  mixed  faculties,  and  the  Leg- 
islature had  to  arrange  the  matter  so  that  both  institu- 
tions should  be  controlled  by  the  Presbyterians,  and 
were,  at  that  time,  both  prospering. 

By  the  Charter  of  Alleghany  College,  the  Governor, 
the  Attorney  General,  and  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
State,  were  ex-officio  members  of  the  Board  of  Trustees. 
Judge  Gibson,  the  Chief  Justice,  who  resided  in  Car- 
lisle, and  who  was  on  his  way  to  Erie  to  hold  Court, 
being  advised  of  the  question  pending,  spent  one  or 
two  days  in  Meadville,  while  this  subject  was  under 
consideration,  and  having  known  the  state  of  things 
in  Carlisle,  and  the  happy  prospects  now  looming  up 
before  old  Dickinson,  advised  the  Board  to  accept  of 
our  proposition,  affirming  that  mixed  faculties  had  not 
succeeded,  and  that  all  colleges  of  which  he  had  any 
knowledge  did  better  in  the  hands  of  one  denomina- 
tion than  when  a  mixed  interest  was  involved. 

The  idea  of  our  Conference  holding  a  session  in 
this  part  of  the  State,  a  thing  which  had  never  occurred 
before,  drew  together  many  of  the  most  respectable 
citizens  of  the  surrounding  country,  not  only  Method- 
ists, *but  others,  and  especially  those  friendly  to  educa- 
tion, who  wished  the  College  to  be  successful \y  opened. 
Learning  that  this  question  was  pending,  it  was  an  ad- 
ditional inducement  for  them  to  attend,  and  some  of 
them  "lobbied"  in  favor  of  the  change  of  hands. 

It  was  finally  arranged  to  accept  of  our  proposition. 
In  making  out  a  list  of  names  to  fill  vacancies,  Bishop 
Eoberts   and    myself  were  inserted.     As  soon   as   the 


412  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

reorganization  was  effected — the  Board  having  power  to 
fill  all  vacancies — we  proceeded  to  elect  a  Faculty.  Dr. 
M.  Euter  was  elected  President  of  the  Faculty,  and 
Professor  of  Moral  Science.  Homer  J.  Clark  was 
elected  Vice-President  and  Professor  of  Mathematics, 
and  Augustus  Euter,  son  of  the  Doctor,  was  elected 
Professor  of  Languages.  Measures  were  also  taken  to 
open  the  school  in  the  Fall,  I  think  about  September. 
The  school  opened  at  the  time  with  about  fifty  students, 
and  soon  run  up  to  one  hundred.  This,  with  the  pleas- 
ing prospects  of  further  increase  in  the  number,  was 
very  gratifying  to  the  old  members  of  the  Board. 

The  presidency  of  Bishop  Eoberts  at  this  Conference 
was  a  cause  of  gratulation  both  to  the  Church  and  to 
outsiders.  The  latter  seemed  to  show  it  even  more 
than  the  former.  The  reason  for  it,  particularly,  was, 
that  the  Bishop's  former  residence  was  only  about 
twenty  miles  from  Meadville,  and  some  of  the  citizens 
of  the  town  were  once  his  neighbors.  The  Bishop's 
personal  appearance  was  grand,  it  was  apostolic,  and 
commanded  respect,  and  the  manner  of  his  presiding 
showed  his  superior  executive  talents;  all  which  made 
the  people,  generally,  feel  proud  that  such  a  noble 
specimen  of  humanity  had  gone  from  among  them  to 
bless  the  Church  and  the  world.  One  man  in  remark- 
ing upon  the  difference  in  the  fortunes  of  men,  said, 
that  "he  had  often  hunted  squirrels  and  'coons  with 
Mr.  Eoberts,  but  now  he  is  a  Bishop,  and  I  am  only  a 
butcher." 

At  this  Conference  (1833)  I  was  appointed  to  Mead- 
ville district,  as  presiding  elder.  This  district  then  in- 
cluded eleven  circuits  and  stations,  all  of  which,  except 
one,  had  grown  out  of  the  old  Erie  circuit,  which  I 
had  traveled  thirteen  years  before. 

A  new  presiding  elder  has  nothing  to  do  in  fix- 
ing the  appointments  of  the  preachers  in  the  district  for 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  413 

his  first  year,  he  must  take  it  as  presented.  The  Bishop, 
however,  was  in  the  habit — at  least,  he  did  so  twice,  in 
appointing  me  to  new  districts — of  calling  the  new  pre- 
siding elder  into  the  cabinet  council  at  their  last  meet- 
ing and  allowing  him  to  suggest  any  change  in  it  that 
he  might  desire.  In  this  case  I  objected  to  one  of  the 
preachers,  he  being  the  most  troublesome  man  in  the 
Conference,  on  account  of  stubborn  eccentricities.  I 
requested  his  change,  but  no  one  of  the  presiding  elders 
would  receive  him.  I  asked  why  they  put  their  most 
troublesome  men  on  to  me,  in  entering  upon  the  du- 
ties and  responsibilities  of  the  office  for  the  first  time? 
The  answer  was,  "because  we  think  you  can  manage 
him  better  than  any  of  us  can."  This  was  probably 
satisfactory  to  them,  but  not  very  agreeable  to  me.  I 
had  to  remove  him  twice  in  the  course  of  the  year,  to 
gratify  the  people  who  remonstrated  against  him.  He 
worried  on  a  few  years  in  this  troublesome  way,  but 
was  finally  located  without  his  consent.  He  was  evi- 
dently a  good  and  pious  man,  and  he  had  superior 
preaching  talents,  but  his  intolerable  eccentricities  and 
stubborn,  set  way  in  them,  rendered  him  very  unac- 
ceptable to  the  people. 

In  entering  upon  this  office  I  felt  deeply  my  re- 
sponsibilities, and  trembled  before  God  lest  I  should  fail 
to  fill  it  with  usefulness  to  the  Church  and  credit  to  my- 
self. My  views  were,  and  still  are,  that  an  office  gives 
no  honor  to  the  incumbent,  unless  he  honors  it  himself. 

My  appointment  to  the  district,  and  my  connection 
now  with  the  College,  induced  me  to  move  my  family 
to  Meadville,  which  I  did  at  once,  and  my  two  sons 
were  placed  in  the  school. 

The  great  Temperance  movement  was  now  in  full 
blast,  into  which  I  entered  with  all  my  force.  In  my 
quarterly-meetings  I  usually  spent  four  days  each.  I 
commenced  on  Thursday  night,  holding  a  temperance 


414  A   WESTERN    PIONEER. 

meeting,  and  preaching  or  lecturing  on  the  subject, 
and  organizing  a  Temperance  Society,  if  none  existed 
before.  Almost  invariably,  if  we  succeeded  in  the  tem- 
perance movement,  a  revival  of  religion  followed;  for 
when  the  evil  spirit  was  cast  out  the  good  spirit  usu- 
ally took  possession  of  the  heart,  and  we  had  from  ten 
to  twenty  conversions  at  every  quarterly -meeting. 

At  one  quarterly -meeting  held  in  New  Castle,  we 
greatly  exceeded  this.  Our  own  church,  a  log  one,  was 
the  first  one  built  in  the  place,  and  had  frequently 
been  lent  to  the  Presbyterians  for  their  sacramental 
occasions.  Now  they  had  a  fine  large  brick  one,  and 
ours  being  too  small  for  our  meeting,  they  could  do 
no  less  than  lend  us  theirs  to  hold  our  quarterly-meet- 
ing in,  though  but  very  few  of  their  people  attended 
our  services. 

"We  commenced  here  on  Friday  night,  after  a  day  of 
fasting  and  a  prayer-meeting  in  our  old  church,  and  on 
Saturday  went  to  the  other  and  wound  up  on  Monday 
night  after  midnight,  having  had  about  sixty  conver- 
sions. We  had  preaching  on  Friday  night ;  on  Saturday 
at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  holding  quarterly  conference 
after  it,  and  at  night;  on  Sunday,  at  nine  o'clock,  A.  M., 
prayer-meeting  at  eleven  o'clock,  A.  M.,  preaching,  and 
taking  up  the  public  collection,  and  preaching  at  night. 
We  held  love-feast  and  a  speaking  meeting  on  Monday 
from  nine  o'clock,  A.  M.,  to  twelve,  M.,  the  Lord's-Sup- 
per  at  two  o'clock,  preceded  by  a  discourse  on  the 
nature,  design,  and  obligations  of  it,  and  preaching  on 
Monday  night. 

Each  night  service  was  preceded  by  a  prayer- meet- 
ing of  an  hour,  and  succeeded  by  a  prayer-meeting  for 
penitents  till  ten  o'clock,  P.  M.,  except  on  Monday  night, 
when  I  told  the  brethren  to  continue  as  long  as  there 
was  a  penitent  to  pray  for. 

In  footing  up  the  numbers  at  the  close  of  the  year, 


REV.   ALFRED   BRUNSON.  415 

we  found  that  after  deducting  deaths,  expulsions,  and 
removals,  we  had  a  net  increase  of  about  one  thousand 
in  the  district.  I  conld  but  regard  this  success  as  an 
intimation  of  the  Divine  approval  of  my  appointment 
to  this  work. 

As  a  Trustee  of  the  College,  and  having  been  the 
principal  agent  on  behalf  of  the  Conference  in  nego- 
tiating for  it,  much  of  the  business  outside  of  the  teach- 
ing fell  upon  me.  Most  of  the  applications  of  students 
and  patrons  for  information  relative  to  the  concerns, 
were  made  to  me.  This,  in  addition  to  the  calls  of  the 
district,  kept  me  busy. 

The  question  of  the  Manual  Labor  System  came 
before  the  Board,  and  a  committee,  of  which  I  was 
Chairman,  was  appointed  to  examine  and  report  upon 
its  practicability.  Of  course,  the  chief  labor  of  this 
fell  upon  me,  and  the  thorough  examination  given  to 
the  subject  satisfied  me  of  its  utility,  though  some  emi- 
nent men  thought  otherwise.  I  drew  up  a  report, 
which  was  submitted  to  the  Board,  approved,  adopted, 
and  ordered  to  be  printed  in  pamphlet  form  for  gratu- 
itous distribution ;  it  was  also  printed  in  the  Christian 
Advocate  and  Journal,  New  York,  Dr.  J.  P.  Durbin  then 
being  its  editor.  A  dormitory  was  soon  built  on  the 
College  grounds,  cheap,  but  with  convenient  rooms  for 
self-boarding  students,  who  were  supplied  with  provis- 
ions and  bedding  from  home,  preparing  it  themselves 
as  they  needed  it.  / 

This  brought  us  a  large  increase  of  students.  The 
dormitory  being  filled,  others  took  rooms  in  town, 
boarding  themselves,  while  some  took  board  with 
mechanics,  and  worked  three  hours  every  week-day  to 
pay  their  board.  Dr.  Cyrus  Nutt,  now  President  of 
Indiana  State  University,  was  one  of  the  last  class, 
and  his  present  distinction  as  a  scholar  and  a  min- 
ister   is    what    I    expected;    for    a    student    of  such 


416  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

indomitable  perseverance  in  obtaining  an  education 
under  such  difficulties,  is  almost  certain  to  make  bis 
mark  in  the  world,  and  leave  it  better  for  his  having 
been  in  it.  But  these  self-supporting  students  were  not 
all  who  attended  the  College;  there  was  a  respectable 
number  who,  having  the  means,  paid  for  their  board 
at  private  houses. 

I  have  found  from  my  own  experience,  as  well  as  ob- 
servation, that  the  necessary  exercise  of  a  student  must 
draw  upon  the  muscles  of  the  whole  frame,  more  than 
mere  walking,  and  be  more  natural  and  uniform  than 
gymnastic  violence  affords.  The  latter  is  often  too  se- 
vere, and  injuriously  wrenching,  while  walking  and  run- 
ning, though  they  may  exercise  the  limbs,  do  not  reach 
and  strengthen  the  chest,  upon  which  constant  study 
operates  so  disadvantageously.  The  chest  incases  the 
vitals  of  life,  and  usually  gives  way  first  in  the  student. 
But  chopping,  hoeing,  planing,  sawing,  or  using  the 
draw-shave,  and  such  kind  of  labor,  not  only  exer- 
cise the  limbs,  but  the  whole  frame,  and  gives  it 
healthy  action.  If  a  student  is  able  to  pay  his  bills,  it 
is  no  reason  why  he  should  not  take  some  healthy 
exercise,  the  want  of  which  has  led  to  thousands  of 
premature  graves,  and  deprived  the  world  of  promised 
usefulness. 

We  held  a  camp-meeting  this  year  in  Erie  county, 
Pennsylvania,  near  the  Ohio  State  line,  at  which  we 
had  some  rowdyism.  I  went  out  to  endeavor  to  pacify 
and  still  it.  But  one  of  the  rowdies  threw  a  brand  of 
fire  into  my  face,  the  only  instance  of  an  assault  and 
battery  upon  my  person  that  ever  occurred  in  such  or 
any  other  place.  The  next  day,  this  having  occurred 
in  the  night,  I  filed  a  complaint  with  a  justice  of  the 
peace,  who  had  the  offender  arrested  and  fined  him 
twenty-five  dollars,  including  the  costs.  I  directed  the 
justice  to  collect  the  fine  and  pay  it  over  to  the  trustees 


REV.    ALFRED    BRUNSON.  417 

of  the  common  school  in  the  neighborhood,  to  aid  in 
sustaining  the  school. 

It  rained  hard  most  of  the  time  of  the  meeting,  so 
that  we  could  have  but  little  service  at  the  stand.  I  went 
round  the  camp  and  directed  large  fires  to  be  built  near 
the  doors  of  the  tents,  and  the  curtains  to  be  thrown  up 
so  as  to  let  the  fire  throw  heat  into  them.  There  was 
but  little  good  done,  and  in  view  of  the  exposure  and  the 
rowdyism,  I  had  my  doubts  whether  a  meeting  held  in 
a  church — where  we  had  one — or  a  barn,  if  we  had  no 
church,  for  four  days,  would  not  result  in  more  good. 
In  fact,  such  was  the  result  with  us  this  yesa\ 

We  held  another  camp-meeting  on  French  Creek, 
near  Waterford,  in  the  same  county,  which  resulted  in 
considerable  good.  But  the  rowdies  troubled  us  here, 
also.  On  Saturday  night  an  explosion  of  gunpowder 
near  the  tents,  as  loud  as  a  three-pound  gun,  shook  the 
ground  and  tents.  The  next  morning  a  ball  of  twine 
was  found  with  a  burnt  goose-quill  visible.  This  we 
unrolled  and  found  about  a  half  pound  of  powder  in 
the  center.  The  quill  been  charged  with  powder,  lead- 
ing to  the  mass  in  the  center,  and  a  piece  of  spunk 
ignited,  had  been  placed  in  the  outer  end,  the  burning 
of  which  had  crisped  the  quill  before  reaching  the 
powder.  This  saved  us  from  a  second  shock.  The 
twine  was  known  by  its  quality  to  be  such  as  was  used 
in  only  one  store  in  the  village;  and  it  was  ascer- 
tained that  powder  was  at  the  other  store  only,  and  we 
thus  traced  the  mischief  to  the  proper  persons,  the 
clerks  of  the  two  stores,  who  had  stolen  the  materials, 
for  which  they  were  discharged.  This  circumstance 
strengthened  my  doubts  as  to  the  propriety  of  holding 
camp-meetings  any  longer. 

The  strongest  argument  in  favor  of  camp-meetings 
w7as  the  want  of  churches;  but  now  we  had  churches 
enough  on  each  circuit  for    Winter  meetings,   and  for 


418  A    WESTERN    PIONEER. 

neighborhoods  without  churches  the  barns  in  Summer, 
before  harvest,  made  good  temporary  places  of  wor- 
ship. Usually  when  a  barn  was  to  be  thus  used,  the 
owner,  as  every  good  farmer  ought  to  do  in  the  Spring, 
cleared  all  the  manure  and  mulch  from  about  it.  If 
the  hay  and  barn-floor,  and  scaffold  over  the  stabling 
are  all  cleaned  out  and  seated,  with  proper  precaution 
no  accident  of  fire  can  occur.  Every  person  leaving 
the  barn  after  meeting  at  night,  except  such  as  sleep  in 
it,  an  incendiary  would  have  a  poor  chance  to  do  mis- 
chief, if  so  disposed.  I  have  held  many,  perhaps  scores, 
of  such  meetings,  and  never  knew  or  heard  of  one 
being  burned  in  consequence  of  it. 

Such  meetings  in  a  church  or  barn,  need  but 
little  guarding  against  rowdies,  and  consequently  but 
few,  if  any,  called  from  the  altar  to  guard  the  ground. 
The  rowdies  not  having  the  woods  to  retreat  to,  fewer 
of  them  attend,  or  if  they  do,  are  under  more  restraint. 
Having  had  from  twenty  to  one  hundred  conversions  in 
four  days,  in  churches  and  barns,  with  less  expense  and 
a  smaller  ministerial  force  than  is  required  at  a  camp- 
meetinor,  the  scale  seemed  to  turn  in  favor  of  the 
former. 

While  living  in  Meadville  I  induced  the  formation 
of  a  literary  association,  or  lyceum,  in  which  I  took  an 
active  part,  delivering  numerous  lectures,  and  partici- 
pating in  debates.  A  lively  interest  was  gotten  up, 
and  both  citizens  and  students,  as  well  as  professors, 
enlisted  in  the  cause,  much  to  the  edification  and  social 
gratification  of  people  generally. 


END  OF  VOLUME  I. 


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